Nexus Investment Management ULC Reduces Position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Nexus Investment Management ULC reduced its position in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 14.1% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 78,959 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 12,979 shares during the period. Meta Platforms accounts for approximately 4.6% of Nexus Investment Management ULC’s holdings, making the stock its 3rd biggest position. Nexus Investment Management ULC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $46,231,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of META. JDM Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the third quarter worth $30,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC bought a new stake in Meta Platforms in the 3rd quarter valued at $36,000. Avondale Wealth Management acquired a new stake in Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter worth $41,000. Halpern Financial Inc. bought a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the 3rd quarter worth about $46,000. Finally, West Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the third quarter valued at about $49,000. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

META has been the topic of several research reports. Hsbc Global Res upgraded Meta Platforms to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $641.00 to $685.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $645.00 to $705.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. JMP Securities lifted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $660.00 to $750.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $660.00 to $725.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Two 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $650.05.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

NASDAQ META opened at $612.77 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a quick ratio of 2.73 and a current ratio of 2.73. The stock has a market cap of $1.55 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.86, a PEG ratio of 1.22 and a beta of 1.19. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $597.37 and a 200 day simple moving average of $557.77. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 52-week low of $370.95 and a 52-week high of $638.40.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last announced 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. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 35.60% and a net margin of 35.55%. The business had revenue of $40.59 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $40.21 billion. Analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 22.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 27th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 16th were issued a $0.50 dividend. 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 payout ratio is 9.42%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Meta Platforms news, COO Javier Olivan sold 413 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, October 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $574.16, for a total value of $237,128.08. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 10,707 shares in the company, valued at $6,147,531.12. This trade represents a 3.71 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $604.54, for a total transaction of $547,108.70. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 31,105 shares in the company, valued at $18,804,216.70. This represents a 2.83 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 495,269 shares of company stock worth $300,888,396. Corporate insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

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.