Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) is Venator Management LLC’s 3rd Largest Position

Venator Management LLC lessened its stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 0.2% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 58,507 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 100 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms makes up about 9.9% of Venator Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 3rd largest position. Venator Management LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $34,256,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of META. Howard Capital Management Group LLC raised its holdings in Meta Platforms by 17.9% during the 3rd quarter. Howard Capital Management Group LLC now owns 1,652 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $946,000 after buying an additional 251 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 6.5% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 3,368,361 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $1,928,185,000 after purchasing an additional 204,412 shares during the period. United Bank grew its holdings in Meta Platforms by 22.2% during the 3rd quarter. United Bank now owns 5,569 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $3,188,000 after purchasing an additional 1,011 shares during the last quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms in the 3rd quarter worth about $625,000. Finally, Tradition Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in Meta Platforms by 14.7% in the third quarter. Tradition Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,655 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $1,520,000 after purchasing an additional 340 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Trading Down 4.3 %

META opened at $576.74 on Monday. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $655.23 and its 200 day moving average price is $609.90. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a one year low of $414.50 and a one year high of $740.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 2.98 and a current ratio of 2.98. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.46 trillion, a PE ratio of 24.11, a P/E/G ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.23.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The social networking company reported $8.02 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.75 by $1.27. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 38.17% and a net margin of 37.91%. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $5.33 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th were given a dividend of $0.525 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.36%. This is a positive change from Meta Platforms’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is currently 8.78%.

Insider Activity

In other Meta Platforms news, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 5,060 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Saturday, February 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $736.67, for a total transaction of $3,727,550.20. Following the sale, the chief technology officer now owns 5,139 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,785,747.13. This trade represents a 49.61 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 413 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, January 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $612.10, for a total transaction of $252,797.30. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 17,101 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,467,522.10. The trade was a 2.36 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 584,410 shares of company stock worth $386,031,454. Corporate insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on Meta Platforms from $700.00 to $800.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Piper Sandler upped their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $670.00 to $775.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $685.00 to $752.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. KeyCorp dropped their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $750.00 to $710.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, March 18th. Finally, Argus set a $775.00 price objective on Meta Platforms in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, thirty-five have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Meta Platforms presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $718.31.

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.