Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) Stock Holdings Lessened by LVW Advisors LLC

LVW Advisors LLC trimmed its stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 3.9% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 8,517 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 346 shares during the quarter. LVW Advisors LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $4,987,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Terra Nova Asset Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Terra Nova Asset Management LLC now owns 4,266 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $2,498,000 after purchasing an additional 22 shares in the last quarter. Smart Money Group LLC lifted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 12.3% in the fourth quarter. Smart Money Group LLC now owns 1,704 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $998,000 after purchasing an additional 186 shares in the last quarter. Ellsworth Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 628.0% in the fourth quarter. Ellsworth Advisors LLC now owns 11,859 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $6,944,000 after purchasing an additional 10,230 shares in the last quarter. RoundAngle Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter worth approximately $1,255,000. Finally, Annex Advisory Services LLC increased its holdings in Meta Platforms by 19.3% in the fourth quarter. Annex Advisory Services LLC now owns 83,595 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $48,946,000 after buying an additional 13,538 shares during the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Meta Platforms Trading Up 0.6 %

Shares of META stock opened at $616.46 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $1.56 trillion, a P/E ratio of 29.04, a P/E/G ratio of 1.16 and a beta of 1.19. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12-month low of $381.16 and a 12-month high of $638.40. The company has a quick ratio of 2.73, a current ratio of 2.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $598.00 and a 200 day moving average price of $558.31.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The social networking company reported $6.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.19 by $0.84. The company had revenue of $40.59 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $40.21 billion. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 35.55% and a return on equity of 35.60%. Research analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 22.96 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 27th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 16th were paid a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 16th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.32%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 9.42%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently commented on META. Truist Financial increased their price objective on Meta Platforms from $650.00 to $700.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. KeyCorp increased their price objective on Meta Platforms from $655.00 to $700.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 10th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on Meta Platforms from $525.00 to $530.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Meta Platforms from $641.00 to $685.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, January 13th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $660.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, January 13th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, thirty-five have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $651.27.

Insider Activity at Meta Platforms

In other Meta Platforms news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 35,921 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $613.85, for a total value of $22,050,105.85. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CFO Susan J. Li sold 8,951 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $577.16, for a total transaction of $5,166,159.16. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 51,591 shares in the company, valued at $29,776,261.56. This trade represents a 14.78 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 531,190 shares of company stock valued at $322,938,501 over the last ninety days. 13.71% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.