Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) Shares Sold by Channel Wealth LLC

Channel Wealth LLC cut its stake in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 22.2% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 5,132 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 1,463 shares during the period. Channel Wealth LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $3,005,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.9% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 13,827,565 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $7,915,451,000 after acquiring an additional 118,298 shares during the last quarter. LS Investment Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Meta Platforms by 111.4% during the 3rd quarter. LS Investment Advisors LLC now owns 11,679 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $6,686,000 after purchasing an additional 6,155 shares during the last quarter. Cutter & CO Brokerage Inc. increased its holdings in Meta Platforms by 0.7% during the 3rd quarter. Cutter & CO Brokerage Inc. now owns 9,735 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $5,573,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares during the last quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC boosted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.4% during the 3rd quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 412,046 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $235,872,000 after buying an additional 5,594 shares during the last quarter. Finally, M&G PLC grew its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 14.6% during the third quarter. M&G PLC now owns 721,339 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $412,606,000 after buying an additional 91,773 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Sanford C. Bernstein upped their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $675.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, October 25th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $525.00 to $530.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Guggenheim lifted their price target on Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $665.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, October 7th. Barclays upped their price objective on Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $630.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Wolfe Research lifted their target price on Meta Platforms from $670.00 to $730.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, thirty-five have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Meta Platforms presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $650.05.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CFO Susan J. Li sold 8,951 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $577.16, for a total value of $5,166,159.16. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 51,591 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $29,776,261.56. This trade represents a 14.78 % 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 Nicholas Clegg sold 7,296 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $553.48, for a total transaction of $4,038,190.08. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 38,695 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $21,416,908.60. This trade represents a 15.86 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 496,174 shares of company stock worth $301,408,499 in the last three months. 13.71% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

Shares of Meta Platforms stock opened at $612.77 on Friday. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 52 week low of $370.95 and a 52 week high of $638.40. The company has a current ratio of 2.73, a quick ratio of 2.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $596.78 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $556.71. The stock has a market cap of $1.55 trillion, a PE ratio of 28.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.22 and a beta of 1.19.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The social networking company reported $6.03 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.19 by $0.84. The business had revenue of $40.59 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $40.21 billion. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 35.55% and a return on equity of 35.60%. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 22.68 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 27th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 16th were paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.33%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 16th. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is presently 9.42%.

Meta Platforms Company 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.