Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) Shares Sold by Kensington Investment Counsel LLC

Kensington Investment Counsel LLC lowered its stake in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 34.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,675 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 894 shares during the quarter. Kensington Investment Counsel LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $981,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. JDM Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in Meta Platforms during the third quarter worth approximately $30,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC acquired a new stake in Meta Platforms during the third quarter worth approximately $36,000. Avondale Wealth Management acquired a new stake in Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter worth approximately $41,000. Cordant Inc. acquired a new stake in Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter worth approximately $59,000. Finally, Bear Mountain Capital Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter valued at $70,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Meta Platforms

In other news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 35,921 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $604.46, for a total transaction of $21,712,807.66. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 413 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $590.00, for a total transaction of $243,670.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 17,927 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,576,930. The trade was a 2.25 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 622,844 shares of company stock worth $409,212,161 in the last three months. Company insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

Meta Platforms stock opened at $586.00 on Friday. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12-month low of $414.50 and a 12-month high of $740.91. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.48 trillion, a P/E ratio of 24.50, a P/E/G ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.23. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $655.77 and its two-hundred day moving average is $604.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 2.98 and a quick ratio of 2.98.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last released its quarterly earnings results 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 net margin of 37.91% and a return on equity of 38.17%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $5.33 EPS. Equities analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.525 per share. This is a positive change from Meta Platforms’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.36%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is presently 8.78%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

META has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Tigress Financial reaffirmed a “strong-buy” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. Raymond James reaffirmed a “strong-buy” rating and issued a $800.00 target price (up from $725.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $770.00 target price (up from $700.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Oppenheimer lifted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $650.00 to $800.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Truist Financial lifted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $700.00 to $770.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Two research 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 issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $718.31.

Meta Platforms Company 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.