AlphaMark Advisors LLC Cuts Position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

AlphaMark Advisors LLC lowered its position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 4.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 965 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 44 shares during the quarter. AlphaMark Advisors LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $565,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Moody Lynn & Lieberson LLC boosted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. Moody Lynn & Lieberson LLC now owns 5,047 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $2,955,000 after acquiring an additional 33 shares in the last quarter. Jacksonville Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter worth approximately $1,540,000. Flagship Harbor Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 2.5% in the fourth quarter. Flagship Harbor Advisors LLC now owns 22,756 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $13,324,000 after purchasing an additional 558 shares in the last quarter. Juncture Wealth Strategies LLC increased its stake in Meta Platforms by 3.1% in the fourth quarter. Juncture Wealth Strategies LLC now owns 1,524 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $892,000 after purchasing an additional 46 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Stewardship Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Meta Platforms by 21.7% during the fourth quarter. Stewardship Advisors LLC now owns 611 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $358,000 after purchasing an additional 109 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Meta Platforms

In related news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 35,921 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $644.76, for a total transaction of $23,160,423.96. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 413 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $567.58, for a total transaction of $234,410.54. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 10,294 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,842,668.52. The trade was a 3.86 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 602,612 shares of company stock worth $368,414,542. 13.71% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Meta Platforms Trading Up 2.2 %

Shares of META stock opened at $674.33 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $1.70 trillion, a P/E ratio of 31.76, a P/E/G ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.19. The company has a quick ratio of 2.73, a current ratio of 2.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $387.10 and a fifty-two week high of $682.58. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $606.30 and a 200-day simple moving average of $562.78.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The social networking company reported $6.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.19 by $0.84. The company had revenue of $40.59 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $40.21 billion. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 35.55% and a return on equity of 35.60%. On average, analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 22.96 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 27th. Investors of record on Monday, December 16th were paid a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.30%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 16th. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is currently 9.42%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently commented on META shares. Susquehanna increased their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $675.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Mizuho raised their price objective on Meta Platforms from $650.00 to $675.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Needham & Company LLC reiterated an “underperform” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Monday. Pivotal Research upped their target price on Meta Platforms from $780.00 to $800.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Meta Platforms from $641.00 to $685.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, thirty-five have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Meta Platforms has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $654.20.

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.