Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) Shares Sold by Calamos Advisors LLC

Calamos Advisors LLC lowered its stake in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 0.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 709,854 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 925 shares during the period. Meta Platforms makes up approximately 1.2% of Calamos Advisors LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 8th biggest holding. Calamos Advisors LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $251,260,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. WoodTrust Financial Corp raised its position in Meta Platforms by 1.8% during the fourth quarter. WoodTrust Financial Corp now owns 1,547 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $548,000 after purchasing an additional 27 shares during the period. Tennessee Valley Asset Management Partners raised its position in Meta Platforms by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Tennessee Valley Asset Management Partners now owns 4,566 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $1,616,000 after purchasing an additional 27 shares during the period. Peterson Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in Meta Platforms by 1.9% during the fourth quarter. Peterson Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,468 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $520,000 after purchasing an additional 28 shares during the period. Edge Wealth Management LLC raised its position in Meta Platforms by 4.0% during the fourth quarter. Edge Wealth Management LLC now owns 730 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $258,000 after purchasing an additional 28 shares during the period. Finally, Yarger Wealth Strategies LLC raised its position in Meta Platforms by 4.0% during the fourth quarter. Yarger Wealth Strategies LLC now owns 736 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $260,000 after purchasing an additional 28 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on META. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price target on Meta Platforms from $450.00 to $525.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 2nd. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $585.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 4th. Truist Financial increased their price objective on Meta Platforms from $525.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on Meta Platforms from $425.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on Meta Platforms from $609.00 to $600.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating, thirty-eight have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $519.53.

Insider Activity

In other news, COO Javier Olivan sold 490 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $488.03, for a total value of $239,134.70. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 79,944 shares in the company, valued at $39,015,070.32. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, COO Javier Olivan sold 490 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $488.03, for a total value of $239,134.70. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 79,944 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $39,015,070.32. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 8,036 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $473.28, for a total value of $3,803,278.08. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief technology officer now directly owns 18,432 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,723,496.96. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 1,421,182 shares of company stock worth $677,574,550. Corporate insiders own 13.75% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Trading Down 2.0 %

NASDAQ:META traded down $10.09 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $491.71. 3,626,954 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 16,865,826. The company has a quick ratio of 2.67, a current ratio of 2.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. The business has a 50-day moving average of $494.29 and a two-hundred day moving average of $397.43. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a twelve month low of $207.13 and a twelve month high of $531.49. The company has a market capitalization of $1.25 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.99, a PEG ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 1.20.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 1st. The social networking company reported $5.33 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.82 by $0.51. The company had revenue of $40.11 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $39.12 billion. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 29.48% and a net margin of 28.98%. The firm’s revenue was up 24.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $3.00 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 20.18 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 26th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 22nd were paid a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.41%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 21st. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is currently 13.42%.

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.