Brendel Financial Advisors LLC Has $2.29 Million Stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Brendel Financial Advisors LLC decreased its holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 5.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 3,913 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 232 shares during the quarter. Brendel Financial Advisors LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $2,291,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Fiera Capital Corp increased its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 35.1% during the second quarter. Fiera Capital Corp now owns 27,272 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $13,751,000 after acquiring an additional 7,089 shares during the last quarter. Prosperity Consulting Group LLC lifted its stake in Meta Platforms by 2.3% in the second quarter. Prosperity Consulting Group LLC now owns 6,510 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $3,283,000 after purchasing an additional 146 shares during the last quarter. SilverOak Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.7% in the second quarter. SilverOak Wealth Management LLC now owns 5,086 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $2,565,000 after buying an additional 86 shares during the period. Lyell Wealth Management LP raised its stake in Meta Platforms by 8.4% in the 2nd quarter. Lyell Wealth Management LP now owns 48,480 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $24,445,000 after acquiring an additional 3,756 shares during the period. Finally, Williams Financial LLC purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the second quarter worth about $6,650,000. Institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have commented on META. KeyCorp raised their target price on Meta Platforms from $655.00 to $700.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Stifel Nicolaus upped 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. Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $645.00 to $705.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Piper Sandler increased their target price on Meta Platforms from $650.00 to $670.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $811.00 price target on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, thirty-five have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $650.05.

Meta Platforms Trading Up 3.8 %

Shares of NASDAQ:META opened at $617.12 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a current ratio of 2.73 and a quick ratio of 2.73. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.56 trillion, a P/E ratio of 29.07, a P/E/G ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 1.19. The business’s 50-day moving average is $595.02 and its 200 day moving average is $554.81. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1 year low of $358.61 and a 1 year high of $638.40.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The social networking company reported $6.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.19 by $0.84. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 35.55% and a return on equity of 35.60%. The business had revenue of $40.59 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $40.21 billion. On average, research analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 22.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The firm 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 0.32%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 16th. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 9.42%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Nicholas Clegg sold 7,296 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $553.48, for a total transaction of $4,038,190.08. Following the sale, the insider now owns 38,695 shares in the company, valued at approximately $21,416,908.60. This trade represents a 15.86 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Aaron Anderson sold 731 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $557.00, for a total value of $407,167.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 3,414 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,901,598. The trade was a 17.64 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 495,682 shares of company stock valued at $301,101,199 over the last 90 days. 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.