Whitener Capital Management Inc. Sells 85 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Whitener Capital Management Inc. trimmed its position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 2.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 3,966 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 85 shares during the quarter. Whitener Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $2,322,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Defined Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 5.7% in the 4th quarter. Defined Wealth Management LLC now owns 645 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $378,000 after purchasing an additional 35 shares in the last quarter. Sax Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Meta Platforms by 12.4% in the fourth quarter. Sax Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 4,712 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $2,759,000 after buying an additional 519 shares in the last quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC grew its position in Meta Platforms by 34.2% in the fourth quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC now owns 51,228 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $29,995,000 after acquiring an additional 13,043 shares during the last quarter. Brand Asset Management Group Inc. raised its stake in Meta Platforms by 9.0% during the fourth quarter. Brand Asset Management Group Inc. now owns 461 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $270,000 after acquiring an additional 38 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Walker Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 4.6% in the fourth quarter. Walker Asset Management LLC now owns 478 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $280,000 after acquiring an additional 21 shares during the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Bank of America upped their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $630.00 to $660.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Meta Platforms from $641.00 to $685.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $590.00 to $663.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, October 14th. Raymond James reiterated a “strong-buy” rating and issued a $675.00 target price on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Monday, November 25th. Finally, KeyCorp boosted their price target on Meta Platforms from $655.00 to $700.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 10th. Two investment 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $650.05.

Meta Platforms Stock Up 0.2 %

Meta Platforms stock opened at $612.77 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.55 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.22 and a beta of 1.19. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $596.78 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $556.71. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1-year low of $370.95 and a 1-year high of $638.40. The company has a current ratio of 2.73, a quick ratio of 2.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18.

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

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 27th. Investors of record on Monday, December 16th were given a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.33%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 16th. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is currently 9.42%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Meta Platforms

In other Meta Platforms news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 420 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $600.17, for a total transaction of $252,071.40. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 518,004 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $310,890,460.68. This trade represents a 0.08 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CAO Aaron Anderson sold 731 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 18th. The shares were 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 approximately $1,901,598. This represents a 17.64 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 496,174 shares of company stock worth $301,408,499. Corporate insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

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.