Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) Shares Sold by Zevenbergen Capital Investments LLC

Zevenbergen Capital Investments LLC lowered its position in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 6.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 421,446 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 27,223 shares during the period. Meta Platforms makes up about 5.0% of Zevenbergen Capital Investments LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 6th largest position. Zevenbergen Capital Investments LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $246,761,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in META. Ballentine Partners LLC increased its holdings in Meta Platforms by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 58,218 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $34,087,000 after purchasing an additional 808 shares during the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. increased its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 140,585 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $82,314,000 after buying an additional 897 shares during the last quarter. Brueske Advisory Services LLC acquired a new stake in Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter valued at $459,000. Apollon Financial LLC raised its holdings in Meta Platforms by 11.1% in the fourth quarter. Apollon Financial LLC now owns 1,479 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $866,000 after acquiring an additional 148 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in Meta Platforms by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 6,675,174 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $3,908,382,000 after acquiring an additional 110,040 shares during the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ META opened at $626.31 on Wednesday. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1 year low of $414.50 and a 1 year high of $740.91. The firm has a market cap of $1.59 trillion, a P/E ratio of 26.18, a PEG ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.23. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $656.24 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $608.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 2.98 and a current ratio of 2.98.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The social networking company reported $8.02 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 quarter in the previous year, the company earned $5.33 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a $0.525 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.34%. This is a boost from Meta Platforms’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is currently 8.78%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

META has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $675.00 to $715.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and set a $770.00 price objective (up previously from $700.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Oppenheimer increased their target price on Meta Platforms from $650.00 to $800.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Tigress Financial reissued a “strong-buy” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Finally, Argus set a $775.00 price objective on Meta Platforms in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. 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’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $718.31.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, COO Javier Olivan sold 608 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction on Monday, March 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $607.50, for a total value of $369,360.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 7,446 shares in the company, valued at $4,523,445. The trade was a 7.55 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 921 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $600.25, for a total value of $552,830.25. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 32,103 shares in the company, valued at $19,269,825.75. This trade represents a 2.79 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 585,605 shares of company stock worth $386,710,448 in the last ninety days. 13.71% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.