Richard Bernstein Advisors LLC Sells 2,074 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Richard Bernstein Advisors LLC decreased its position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 4.6% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 42,662 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 2,074 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms comprises 0.6% of Richard Bernstein Advisors LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 29th biggest position. Richard Bernstein Advisors LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $24,979,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in META. JDM Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in Meta Platforms in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $30,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC bought a new stake in Meta Platforms in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $36,000. Avondale Wealth Management bought a new stake in Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter worth approximately $41,000. Cordant Inc. bought a new stake in Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter worth approximately $59,000. Finally, Reston Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Meta Platforms in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $61,000. Institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Meta Platforms

In other news, COO Javier Olivan sold 4,706 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Saturday, February 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $736.67, for a total value of $3,466,769.02. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 20,935 shares in the company, valued at $15,422,186.45. This trade represents a 18.35 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Susan J. Li sold 8,553 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Saturday, February 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $736.67, for a total value of $6,300,738.51. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 51,793 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $38,154,349.31. The trade was a 14.17 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 796,712 shares of company stock worth $517,503,564. 13.71% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

META has been the topic of several analyst reports. Raymond James reissued a “strong-buy” rating and set a $800.00 target price (up previously from $725.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on Meta Platforms from $530.00 to $610.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Cantor Fitzgerald boosted their target price on Meta Platforms from $720.00 to $790.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Needham & Company LLC reissued an “underperform” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, KeyCorp boosted their target price on Meta Platforms from $700.00 to $750.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Two equities research 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $719.26.

Meta Platforms Trading Down 2.0 %

Meta Platforms stock opened at $655.05 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $654.28 and a two-hundred day moving average of $597.91. 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, Inc. has a one year low of $414.50 and a one year high of $740.91. The stock has a market cap of $1.66 trillion, a PE ratio of 27.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.20.

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

Meta Platforms Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a $0.525 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This is a boost from Meta Platforms’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.32%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.