Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) Position Decreased by Simplicity Wealth LLC

Simplicity Wealth LLC reduced its holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 34.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 6,121 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 3,199 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms accounts for 0.7% of Simplicity Wealth LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 27th biggest position. Simplicity Wealth LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $3,584,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Howard Capital Management Group LLC lifted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 17.9% during the 3rd quarter. Howard Capital Management Group LLC now owns 1,652 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $946,000 after acquiring an additional 251 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 6.5% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 3,368,361 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $1,928,185,000 after purchasing an additional 204,412 shares during the period. United Bank lifted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 22.2% during the third quarter. United Bank now owns 5,569 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $3,188,000 after purchasing an additional 1,011 shares during the last quarter. Peregrine Asset Advisers Inc. boosted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 702.9% in the 3rd quarter. Peregrine Asset Advisers Inc. now owns 9,378 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $5,368,000 after purchasing an additional 8,210 shares during the period. Finally, Chartwell Investment Partners LLC increased its stake in Meta Platforms by 4.7% in the 3rd quarter. Chartwell Investment Partners LLC now owns 62,310 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $35,669,000 after purchasing an additional 2,772 shares in the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 22,035 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $618.63, for a total transaction of $13,631,512.05. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 413 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $629.56, for a total value of $260,008.28. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 18,340 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,546,130.40. This represents a 2.20 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 690,689 shares of company stock worth $451,269,409. Corporate insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

NASDAQ:META opened at $607.60 on Friday. 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 company has a 50-day moving average of $658.01 and a 200-day moving average of $602.61. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 52 week low of $414.50 and a 52 week high of $740.91. The company has a market capitalization of $1.54 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.40, a PEG ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.23.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 return on equity of 38.17% and a net margin of 37.91%. During the same period last year, the company posted $5.33 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid 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 yield of 0.35%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is currently 8.78%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have commented on the stock. Piper Sandler upped their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $670.00 to $775.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $753.00 to $780.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $685.00 to $752.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Susquehanna raised their target price on Meta Platforms from $675.00 to $800.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald lifted their price target on Meta Platforms from $720.00 to $790.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, thirty-five have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $719.26.

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.