Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) Shares Sold by Lingohr Asset Management GmbH

Lingohr Asset Management GmbH reduced its holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 63.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 713 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 1,253 shares during the quarter. Lingohr Asset Management GmbH’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $422,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in META. Ballentine Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 58,218 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $34,087,000 after purchasing an additional 808 shares during the period. UMB Bank n.a. increased its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 140,585 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $82,314,000 after purchasing an additional 897 shares during the period. Brueske Advisory Services LLC acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter valued at $459,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.9% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 13,827,565 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $7,915,451,000 after purchasing an additional 118,298 shares during the period. Finally, Apollon Financial LLC increased its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 11.1% during the 4th quarter. Apollon Financial LLC now owns 1,479 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $866,000 after purchasing an additional 148 shares during the period. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $602.47, for a total transaction of $545,235.35. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 33,820 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $20,375,535.40. The trade was a 2.61 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 413 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $590.00, for a total value of $243,670.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 17,927 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,576,930. This represents a 2.25 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 622,844 shares of company stock valued at $409,212,161. Insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

META opened at $596.25 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $1.51 trillion, a PE ratio of 24.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.23. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $655.38 and a 200-day moving average of $605.74. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 52-week low of $414.50 and a 52-week high of $740.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 2.98 and a current 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 return on equity of 38.17% and a net margin of 37.91%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $5.33 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a dividend of $0.525 per share. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.35%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This is a boost from Meta Platforms’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is currently 8.78%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

META has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Piper Sandler lifted their price target on Meta Platforms from $670.00 to $775.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Truist Financial lifted their price target on Meta Platforms from $700.00 to $770.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Arete Research upgraded Meta Platforms to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Bank of America lifted their target price on Meta Platforms from $710.00 to $765.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Argus set a $775.00 target price on Meta Platforms in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, thirty-five have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus 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.