Vicus Capital Sells 2,282 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Vicus Capital decreased its holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 46.1% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 2,673 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 2,282 shares during the quarter. Vicus Capital’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $946,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of META. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 1.0% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 183,244,796 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $55,011,920,000 after buying an additional 1,733,182 shares during the period. FMR LLC boosted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 4.0% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 130,809,908 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $39,270,443,000 after purchasing an additional 5,001,647 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley boosted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 3.4% during the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 36,277,772 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $10,890,950,000 after purchasing an additional 1,184,978 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter valued at about $4,223,148,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp boosted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 4.3% during the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 23,003,927 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $6,906,009,000 after purchasing an additional 946,871 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Meta Platforms

In other news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 585 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $498.59, for a total value of $291,675.15. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 37,813 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $18,853,183.67. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, COO Javier Olivan sold 490 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, April 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $517.75, for a total value of $253,697.50. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 7,579 shares in the company, valued at $3,924,027.25. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 585 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $498.59, for a total value of $291,675.15. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 37,813 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,853,183.67. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 1,421,182 shares of company stock valued at $677,574,550 over the last three months. Company insiders own 13.75% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

NASDAQ META traded down $20.73 on Friday, hitting $481.07. 25,215,364 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 11,967,675. The business’s fifty day moving average is $494.55 and its two-hundred day moving average is $399.32. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12 month low of $207.13 and a 12 month high of $531.49. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.23 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.29, a PEG ratio of 1.22 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a quick ratio of 2.67 and a current ratio of 2.67.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last posted 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. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 29.48% and a net margin of 28.98%. The firm had revenue of $40.11 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $39.12 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $3.00 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 24.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 20.18 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 26th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 22nd were issued a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.42%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 21st. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is currently 13.42%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently commented on META shares. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Meta Platforms from $375.00 to $550.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. UBS Group upped their price target on Meta Platforms from $530.00 to $610.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 16th. Monness Crespi & Hardt upped their price target on Meta Platforms from $370.00 to $540.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. Bank of America upped their price target on Meta Platforms from $425.00 to $510.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Meta Platforms from $420.00 to $535.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, thirty-eight have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $519.53.

Meta Platforms 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.