Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) Shares Sold by B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. AG

B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. AG trimmed its position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 7.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 188,036 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 15,838 shares during the period. Meta Platforms makes up about 1.1% of B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. AG’s portfolio, making the stock its 22nd largest holding. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. AG’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $110,342,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. JDM Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in Meta Platforms during the third quarter worth about $30,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC bought a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the 3rd quarter valued at about $36,000. Millstone Evans Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter valued at about $40,000. Avondale Wealth Management acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter worth approximately $41,000. Finally, WealthTrak Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter worth approximately $43,000. 79.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Meta Platforms Stock Down 4.3 %

Meta Platforms stock opened at $576.74 on Monday. 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, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $414.50 and a fifty-two week high of $740.91. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $655.23 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $609.90. The firm has a market cap of $1.46 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.11, 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 (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 period in the prior year, the business earned $5.33 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th were given a $0.525 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.36%. This is an increase from Meta Platforms’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 8.78%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have issued reports on the stock. JMP Securities restated a “market outperform” rating and issued a $750.00 price target on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Tigress Financial restated a “strong-buy” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. Pivotal Research boosted their target price on Meta Platforms from $800.00 to $875.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Rosenblatt Securities reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $811.00 price target on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $530.00 to $610.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, thirty-five have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $718.31.

Insider Transactions at Meta Platforms

In other Meta Platforms news, COO Javier Olivan sold 413 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $612.10, for a total transaction of $252,797.30. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 17,101 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,467,522.10. The trade was a 2.36 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 902 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $713.32, for a total value of $643,414.64. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 27,488 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $19,607,740.16. This represents a 3.18 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 584,410 shares of company stock valued at $386,031,454. 13.71% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.