Narwhal Capital Management Decreases Stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Narwhal Capital Management decreased its holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 12.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 43,822 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 6,255 shares during the period. Meta Platforms accounts for about 2.3% of Narwhal Capital Management’s portfolio, making the stock its 10th biggest holding. Narwhal Capital Management’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $25,658,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. JDM Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the third quarter worth about $30,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $36,000. Avondale Wealth Management bought a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $41,000. Halpern Financial Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the third quarter valued at $46,000. Finally, West Financial Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Meta Platforms in the third quarter worth $49,000. Institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Trading Up 0.3 %

Meta Platforms stock opened at $676.49 on Thursday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $608.52 and a 200 day moving average price of $563.58. The company has a market capitalization of $1.71 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.19. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 52 week low of $387.10 and a 52 week high of $682.58. 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 quarterly earnings data 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 35.55% and a return on equity of 35.60%. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $5.33 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 22.96 EPS for the current 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 issued a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 16th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.30%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 9.42%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have commented on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $641.00 to $685.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Needham & Company LLC reiterated an “underperform” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Monday. Hsbc Global Res upgraded Meta Platforms to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Guggenheim lifted their target price on Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $665.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, October 7th. Finally, Scotiabank decreased their price target on Meta Platforms from $585.00 to $583.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating, thirty-five have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $655.41.

Insider Transactions at Meta Platforms

In other news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 22,366 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $648.68, for a total value of $14,508,376.88. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 580 shares in the company, valued at $376,234.40. The trade was a 97.47 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 413 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $567.58, for a total value of $234,410.54. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 10,294 shares in the company, valued at $5,842,668.52. This trade represents a 3.86 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 661,312 shares of company stock worth $407,377,422 over the last quarter. 13.71% of the stock is currently owned by 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.