Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) Shares Sold by Hixon Zuercher LLC

Hixon Zuercher LLC cut its stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 4.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 8,216 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 393 shares during the period. Meta Platforms makes up 1.9% of Hixon Zuercher LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 21st largest position. Hixon Zuercher LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $4,811,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of META. JDM Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in Meta Platforms during the third quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC acquired a new position in Meta Platforms during the third quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Avondale Wealth Management acquired a new position in Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $41,000. West Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Meta Platforms during the third quarter valued at approximately $49,000. Finally, Cordant Inc. acquired a new position in Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $59,000. 79.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

META stock opened at $697.46 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $1.76 trillion, a P/E ratio of 29.16, a PEG ratio of 1.47 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $616.25 and a 200 day simple moving average of $568.60. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $414.50 and a fifty-two week high of $710.79. The company has a quick ratio of 2.98, a current ratio of 2.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The social networking company reported $8.02 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $6.75 by $1.27. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 37.91% and a return on equity of 38.17%. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $5.33 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 25.94 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 27th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 16th were issued a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.29%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 16th. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is 8.36%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

META has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $590.00 to $663.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, October 14th. Arete Research raised shares of Meta Platforms to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Bank of America boosted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $710.00 to $765.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $630.00 to $705.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities reissued a “buy” rating and set a $811.00 target price on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, thirty-five have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $710.83.

Insider Buying and Selling at Meta Platforms

In other Meta Platforms news, CAO Aaron Anderson sold 731 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $557.00, for a total value of $407,167.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 3,414 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,901,598. This represents a 17.64 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Nicholas Clegg sold 1,131 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $577.16, for a total transaction of $652,767.96. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 1,229 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $709,329.64. The trade was a 47.92 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 673,878 shares of company stock valued at $416,269,904. 13.71% of the stock is 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.