Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) Shares Sold by JNBA Financial Advisors

JNBA Financial Advisors reduced its position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 1.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,004 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 27 shares during the quarter. JNBA Financial Advisors’ holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $1,173,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Seelaus Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Seelaus Asset Management LLC now owns 1,640 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $960,000 after acquiring an additional 15 shares during the period. Stephens Consulting LLC raised its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 5.3% during the fourth quarter. Stephens Consulting LLC now owns 317 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $186,000 after purchasing an additional 16 shares during the last quarter. VeraBank N.A. raised its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. VeraBank N.A. now owns 1,954 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $1,144,000 after purchasing an additional 16 shares during the last quarter. Lindenwold Advisors INC raised its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.3% during the third quarter. Lindenwold Advisors INC now owns 5,918 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $3,388,000 after purchasing an additional 17 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Insight Wealth Strategies LLC raised its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.6% during the fourth quarter. Insight Wealth Strategies LLC now owns 1,067 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $625,000 after purchasing an additional 17 shares during the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Meta Platforms

In other news, CFO Susan J. Li sold 8,553 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction dated Saturday, February 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $736.67, for a total value of $6,300,738.51. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 51,793 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $38,154,349.31. The trade was a 14.17 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 413 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $562.77, for a total value of $232,424.01. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 19,579 shares in the company, valued at $11,018,473.83. This trade represents a 2.07 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 810,217 shares of company stock worth $523,808,864 in the last 90 days. 13.71% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Meta Platforms Stock Down 1.6 %

META opened at $683.62 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 2.98 and a quick ratio of 2.98. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.73 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.20. The business has a 50-day moving average of $647.09 and a two-hundred day moving average of $591.24. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12 month low of $414.50 and a 12 month high of $740.91.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The social networking company reported $8.02 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $6.75 by $1.27. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 38.17% and a net margin of 37.91%. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $5.33 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a $0.525 dividend. This is a boost from Meta Platforms’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.31%. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is 8.36%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on META shares. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on Meta Platforms from $675.00 to $715.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Citigroup upped their price target on Meta Platforms from $753.00 to $780.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Robert W. Baird upped their price target on Meta Platforms from $680.00 to $750.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Tigress Financial restated a “strong-buy” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. Finally, Pivotal Research increased their price objective on Meta Platforms from $800.00 to $875.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, thirty-five have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $719.26.

Meta Platforms Company Profile

Meta Platforms, Inc engages in the development of products that enable people to connect and share with friends and family through mobile devices, personal computers, virtual reality headsets, and wearables worldwide. It operates in two segments, Family of Apps and Reality Labs. The Family of Apps segment offers Facebook, which enables people to share, discuss, discover, and connect with interests; Instagram, a community for sharing photos, videos, and private messages, as well as feed, stories, reels, video, live, and shops; Messenger, a messaging application for people to connect with friends, family, communities, and businesses across platforms and devices through text, audio, and video calls; and WhatsApp, a messaging application that is used by people and businesses to communicate and transact privately.