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

Great Lakes Advisors LLC decreased its holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 6.3% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 255,999 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 17,150 shares during the period. Meta Platforms comprises approximately 1.3% of Great Lakes Advisors LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 13th largest position. Great Lakes Advisors LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $149,889,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. JDM Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the third quarter worth $30,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the third quarter worth $36,000. Avondale Wealth Management acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter worth $41,000. Cordant Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter worth $59,000. Finally, Peterson Financial Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the third quarter worth $70,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently commented on META. Rosenblatt Securities reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $811.00 target price on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Arete Research upgraded shares of Meta Platforms to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. DA Davidson boosted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $700.00 to $800.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $688.00 to $765.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $700.00 to $800.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, thirty-five have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $719.26.

Insider Buying and Selling at Meta Platforms

In other Meta Platforms news, COO Javier Olivan sold 4,706 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Saturday, February 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $736.67, for a total transaction of $3,466,769.02. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 20,935 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $15,422,186.45. The trade was a 18.35 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 921 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $595.00, for a total transaction of $547,995.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 33,024 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $19,649,280. The trade was a 2.71 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 654,355 shares of company stock valued at $428,564,164 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:META opened at $607.60 on Monday. 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 fifty-two week low of $414.50 and a fifty-two week high of $740.91. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $658.01 and a 200 day simple moving average of $603.80. The company has a market cap of $1.54 trillion, a PE ratio of 25.40, a P/E/G ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.23.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last announced 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 net margin of 37.91% and a return on equity of 38.17%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $5.33 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.525 per share. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.35%. This is a positive change from Meta Platforms’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is presently 8.78%.

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.