Miller Investment Management LP Has $36.20 Million Position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Miller Investment Management LP cut its position in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 0.1% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 61,823 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 42 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms makes up about 4.0% of Miller Investment Management LP’s holdings, making the stock its 6th biggest position. Miller Investment Management LP’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $36,198,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in META. Millstone Evans Group LLC bought a new stake in Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter worth about $40,000. Avondale Wealth Management bought a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter worth approximately $41,000. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $43,000. Cordant Inc. bought a new position in Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter valued at $59,000. Finally, Conquis Financial LLC purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter worth $59,000. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related 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 sale, the chief operating officer now owns 20,935 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $15,422,186.45. The trade was a 18.35 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 921 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $543.39, for a total transaction of $500,462.19. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 29,340 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $15,943,062.60. This represents a 3.04 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 451,119 shares of company stock worth $304,709,239 in the last quarter. 13.71% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

Shares of META stock opened at $543.57 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 2.98 and a current ratio of 2.98. The firm has a market cap of $1.38 trillion, a P/E ratio of 22.72, a P/E/G ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.28. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $628.35 and its 200-day moving average price is $609.40. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $414.50 and a fifty-two week high of $740.91.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The social networking company reported $8.02 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 previous year, the company earned $5.33 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th were given a $0.525 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.39%. This is a positive change from Meta Platforms’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is currently 8.78%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on META shares. Wolfe Research increased their price target on Meta Platforms from $670.00 to $730.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $725.00 to $610.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Oppenheimer raised their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $650.00 to $800.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Benchmark upgraded shares of Meta Platforms from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $820.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Piper Sandler cut their price target on Meta Platforms from $775.00 to $610.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, thirty-five have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $701.38.

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.