Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) Shares Sold by Webster Bank N. A.

Webster Bank N. A. reduced its position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 1.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 16,165 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 157 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms comprises approximately 1.0% of Webster Bank N. A.’s portfolio, making the stock its 20th biggest position. Webster Bank N. A.’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $9,465,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. Center For Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 12.3% during the fourth quarter. Center For Asset Management LLC now owns 4,367 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $2,557,000 after buying an additional 479 shares during the last quarter. Cornerstone Wealth Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.9% in the 4th quarter. Cornerstone Wealth Group LLC now owns 19,290 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $11,295,000 after purchasing an additional 368 shares during the last quarter. waypoint wealth counsel increased its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 4.4% in the fourth quarter. waypoint wealth counsel now owns 1,338 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $784,000 after purchasing an additional 56 shares during the period. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA purchased a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter worth approximately $112,406,000. Finally, Apexium Financial LP raised its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 3.0% during the fourth quarter. Apexium Financial LP now owns 4,472 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $2,619,000 after purchasing an additional 129 shares during the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Meta Platforms Trading Up 1.6 %

Shares of META stock opened at $687.00 on Friday. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $611.00 and its 200-day simple moving average is $564.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a current ratio of 2.73 and a quick ratio of 2.73. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1-year low of $387.10 and a 1-year high of $710.79. The firm has a market cap of $1.73 trillion, a P/E ratio of 32.36, a PEG ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.19.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The social networking company reported $8.02 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $6.75 by $1.27. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 35.55% and a return on equity of 35.60%. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $5.33 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 22.96 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 27th. Investors 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 of this dividend was Monday, December 16th. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is currently 9.42%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Meta Platforms

In other news, CFO Susan J. Li sold 8,951 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $577.16, for a total transaction of $5,166,159.16. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 51,591 shares in the company, valued at approximately $29,776,261.56. The trade was a 14.78 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 35,921 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $673.57, for a total transaction of $24,195,307.97. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 661,804 shares of company stock valued at $407,745,741. Company insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have issued reports on META. Susquehanna boosted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $675.00 to $800.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a research note on Thursday. KeyCorp increased their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $700.00 to $750.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday. DA Davidson lifted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $700.00 to $800.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday. Truist Financial increased their target price on Meta Platforms from $700.00 to $770.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price target on Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $660.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, January 13th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, thirty-six have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $706.76.

Meta Platforms Company 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.