Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) Shares Sold by Brio Consultants LLC

Brio Consultants LLC lessened its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 2.8% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 826 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 24 shares during the period. Brio Consultants LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $484,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Independence Bank of Kentucky boosted its stake in Meta Platforms by 6.9% in the fourth quarter. Independence Bank of Kentucky now owns 17,893 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $10,477,000 after acquiring an additional 1,158 shares in the last quarter. SeaBridge Investment Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 15.2% in the 4th quarter. SeaBridge Investment Advisors LLC now owns 15,772 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $9,235,000 after purchasing an additional 2,084 shares during the last quarter. Blossom Wealth Management acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter valued at about $201,000. Dohj LLC grew its stake in Meta Platforms by 5.3% during the 4th quarter. Dohj LLC now owns 4,372 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $2,560,000 after buying an additional 219 shares during the last quarter. Finally, China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its position in Meta Platforms by 3.6% during the fourth quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 56,085 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $32,838,000 after buying an additional 1,969 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently weighed in on META. UBS Group increased their price objective on Meta Platforms from $736.00 to $786.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Needham & Company LLC reissued an “underperform” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Monness Crespi & Hardt upped their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $620.00 to $660.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Meta Platforms from $685.00 to $752.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on Meta Platforms from $530.00 to $610.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, thirty-five have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $710.83.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

NASDAQ:META opened at $704.87 on Thursday. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12-month low of $414.50 and a 12-month high of $718.14. The firm has a market cap of $1.78 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.47 and a beta of 1.20. The company’s 50-day moving average is $621.57 and its two-hundred day moving average is $571.15. The company has a current ratio of 2.98, a quick ratio of 2.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The social networking company reported $8.02 earnings per share (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 38.17%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $5.33 EPS. Research analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 25.94 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 27th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 16th were given a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.28%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 16th. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is currently 8.36%.

Insider Activity at Meta Platforms

In other Meta Platforms news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 12,975 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $706.72, for a total value of $9,169,692.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 172,046 shares in the company, valued at $121,588,349.12. The trade was a 7.01 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Nicholas Clegg sold 7,296 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $553.48, for a total transaction of $4,038,190.08. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 38,695 shares in the company, valued at approximately $21,416,908.60. The trade was a 15.86 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 700,241 shares of company stock worth $434,752,368. 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.