Granite Bay Wealth Management LLC Sells 158 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Granite Bay Wealth Management LLC cut its holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 5.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,737 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 158 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms accounts for approximately 0.6% of Granite Bay Wealth Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 29th largest position. Granite Bay Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $1,603,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the company. Hsbc Global Res raised Meta Platforms to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $641.00 to $685.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $660.00 to $725.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $660.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday. Finally, Raymond James reissued a “strong-buy” rating and set a $675.00 price objective on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Monday, November 25th. 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 issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $650.05.

Insider Activity

In other Meta Platforms news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 35,921 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $633.25, for a total transaction of $22,746,973.25. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 413 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $580.65, for a total transaction of $239,808.45. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 11,120 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,456,828. This trade represents a 3.58 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 423,427 shares of company stock valued at $256,996,450. 13.71% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

META stock opened at $608.33 on Tuesday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $594.58 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $554.18. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 52 week low of $358.61 and a 52 week high of $638.40. The company has a quick ratio of 2.73, a current ratio of 2.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.54 trillion, a P/E ratio of 28.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 1.19.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The social networking company reported $6.03 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 firm had revenue of $40.59 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 announced 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.33%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 16th. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 9.42%.

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.