Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) Shares Sold by Csenge Advisory Group

Csenge Advisory Group lowered its position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 28.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 8,520 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 3,355 shares during the quarter. Csenge Advisory Group’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $4,988,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in META. AMF Tjanstepension AB increased its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 32.5% in the third quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB now owns 457,092 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $261,680,000 after buying an additional 112,047 shares in the last quarter. Howard Capital Management Group LLC increased its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 17.9% in the third 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 in the last quarter. Greenleaf Trust increased its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 2.0% in the third quarter. Greenleaf Trust now owns 113,499 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $64,971,000 after buying an additional 2,211 shares in the last quarter. TFG Advisers LLC increased its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 4.2% in the third quarter. TFG Advisers LLC now owns 1,398 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $800,000 after buying an additional 56 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Altus Wealth Group LLC increased its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 8.3% in the third quarter. Altus Wealth Group LLC now owns 747 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $428,000 after buying an additional 57 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, 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 completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 19,579 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,018,473.83. The trade was a 2.07 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 55,589 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $717.72, for a total value of $39,897,337.08. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 810,217 shares of company stock worth $523,808,864 in the last three months. 13.71% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

META stock opened at $683.62 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 2.98, a current ratio of 2.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 52-week low of $414.50 and a 52-week high of $740.91. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $647.09 and its two-hundred day moving average is $591.24. The company has a market capitalization of $1.73 trillion, a PE ratio of 28.58, a P/E/G ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.20.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The social networking company reported $8.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $5.33 EPS. Analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Increases Dividend

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on META shares. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on Meta Platforms from $700.00 to $800.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $660.00 to $725.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Truist Financial lifted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $700.00 to $770.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Arete Research upgraded Meta Platforms to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Oppenheimer lifted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $650.00 to $800.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, thirty-five have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $719.26.

About Meta Platforms

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.