Anchor Investment Management LLC Decreases Stock Position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Anchor Investment Management LLC lowered its position in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 0.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 19,990 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 114 shares during the period. Meta Platforms makes up about 1.1% of Anchor Investment Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 17th largest position. Anchor Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $11,704,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Howard Capital Management Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 17.9% in the 3rd quarter. Howard Capital Management Group LLC now owns 1,652 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $946,000 after buying an additional 251 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in Meta Platforms by 6.5% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 3,368,361 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $1,928,185,000 after acquiring an additional 204,412 shares during the period. SOA Wealth Advisors LLC. grew its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 9.1% during the third quarter. SOA Wealth Advisors LLC. now owns 3,219 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $1,842,000 after purchasing an additional 269 shares during the last quarter. Aldebaran Financial Inc. raised its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 10.2% during the 3rd quarter. Aldebaran Financial Inc. now owns 2,853 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $1,633,000 after purchasing an additional 264 shares during the period. Finally, Te Ahumairangi Investment Management Ltd lifted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 9.5% in the 3rd quarter. Te Ahumairangi Investment Management Ltd now owns 17,048 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $9,704,000 after purchasing an additional 1,480 shares during the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $618.00, for a total transaction of $559,290.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 30,200 shares in the company, valued at $18,663,600. The trade was a 2.91 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 413 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $618.00, for a total transaction of $255,234.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 16,275 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,057,950. The trade was a 2.47 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 450,214 shares of company stock valued at $304,162,130. Insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on META shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on Meta Platforms from $725.00 to $610.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Bank of America cut their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $765.00 to $640.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. Arete Research upgraded shares of Meta Platforms to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on Meta Platforms from $700.00 to $800.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Benchmark raised Meta Platforms from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $820.00 price objective for the company in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, thirty-five have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $692.93.

Meta Platforms Trading Down 2.2 %

Shares of NASDAQ:META opened at $531.48 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 2.98, a quick ratio of 2.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.35 trillion, a PE ratio of 22.22, a P/E/G ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.28. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1 year low of $414.50 and a 1 year high of $740.91. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $624.88 and a 200 day moving average price of $609.15.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The social networking company reported $8.02 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 prior year, the business posted $5.33 EPS. Analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th were paid a $0.525 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. This is a positive change from Meta Platforms’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.40%. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is presently 8.78%.

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.