Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) Shares Sold by Matrix Asset Advisors Inc. NY

Matrix Asset Advisors Inc. NY decreased its stake in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 6.2% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 37,968 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 2,521 shares during the period. Meta Platforms makes up 2.4% of Matrix Asset Advisors Inc. NY’s portfolio, making the stock its 15th biggest position. Matrix Asset Advisors Inc. NY’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $22,231,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Heritage Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Meta Platforms in the second quarter worth approximately $213,000. AMF Tjanstepension AB raised its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 32.5% in the 3rd quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB now owns 457,092 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $261,680,000 after buying an additional 112,047 shares in the last quarter. Czech National Bank lifted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 6.6% in the third quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 445,052 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $254,766,000 after buying an additional 27,453 shares during the period. Unique Wealth LLC boosted its stake in Meta Platforms by 6.6% during the third quarter. Unique Wealth LLC now owns 834 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $477,000 after buying an additional 52 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Farmers Trust Co. grew its holdings in Meta Platforms by 5.9% during the third quarter. Farmers Trust Co. now owns 1,428 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $817,000 after acquiring an additional 79 shares during the period. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ META opened at $689.18 on Friday. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12 month low of $387.10 and a 12 month high of $710.79. The company has a market cap of $1.74 trillion, a P/E ratio of 28.81, a P/E/G ratio of 1.35 and a beta of 1.19. The business’s 50 day moving average is $613.60 and its two-hundred day moving average is $565.78. The company has a quick ratio of 2.73, a current ratio of 2.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The social networking company reported $8.02 EPS 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 39.74%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $5.33 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 25.44 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 27th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 16th were given a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.29%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 16th. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is presently 8.36%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Nicholas Clegg sold 7,296 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the insider now directly owns 38,695 shares in the company, valued at approximately $21,416,908.60. The trade was a 15.86 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 14,746 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $553.53, for a total transaction of $8,162,353.38. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 661,804 shares of company stock valued at $407,745,741 over the last ninety days. 13.71% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. TD Cowen lifted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $675.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Benchmark upgraded Meta Platforms from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $820.00 target price on the stock in a report on Thursday. JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market outperform” rating and set a $750.00 target price on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Monday, January 27th. Truist Financial lifted their price target on Meta Platforms from $700.00 to $770.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Oppenheimer boosted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $650.00 to $800.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, thirty-six have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $706.76.

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.