Meridian Investment Counsel Inc. Sells 126 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Meridian Investment Counsel Inc. lowered its position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 1.9% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 6,396 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 126 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms comprises approximately 1.1% of Meridian Investment Counsel Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 23rd largest holding. Meridian Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $3,745,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its stake in Meta Platforms by 17.9% in the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 8,190,757 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $4,795,769,000 after purchasing an additional 1,244,002 shares in the last quarter. Riggs Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter worth $279,000. Seven Mile Advisory raised its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 11.9% during the 4th quarter. Seven Mile Advisory now owns 5,162 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $3,022,000 after buying an additional 550 shares in the last quarter. Cannell & Spears LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. Cannell & Spears LLC now owns 3,002 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $1,758,000 after acquiring an additional 41 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hoey Investments Inc. grew its position in Meta Platforms by 10.7% in the fourth quarter. Hoey Investments Inc. now owns 119,431 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $69,928,000 after acquiring an additional 11,578 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Stock Down 4.3 %

NASDAQ:META opened at $576.74 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 $1.46 trillion, a P/E ratio of 24.11, a P/E/G ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.23. 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 50-day simple moving average of $655.23 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $609.90.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last announced 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 quarter in the prior year, the company earned $5.33 earnings per share. Analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Increases Dividend

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. Tigress Financial restated a “strong-buy” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Bank of America boosted their target price on Meta Platforms from $710.00 to $765.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Citigroup increased their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $753.00 to $780.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research 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 report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed an “underperform” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Monday, January 27th. 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 given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $718.31.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Meta Platforms news, COO Javier Olivan sold 4,706 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 represents a 18.35 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $591.76, for a total transaction of $535,542.80. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 32,915 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $19,477,780.40. This trade represents a 2.68 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 584,410 shares of company stock valued at $386,031,454. 13.71% of the stock is owned by company 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.