Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) Shares Sold by Cannon Advisors Inc.

Cannon Advisors Inc. reduced its position in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 10.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,661 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 197 shares during the period. Cannon Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $973,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Invenio Wealth Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 4.6% during the 4th quarter. Invenio Wealth Partners LLC now owns 2,984 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $1,747,000 after purchasing an additional 130 shares in the last quarter. PFC Capital Group Inc. lifted its stake in Meta Platforms by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. PFC Capital Group Inc. now owns 5,110 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $2,991,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. Boston Family Office LLC boosted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. Boston Family Office LLC now owns 2,056 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $1,204,000 after buying an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 2.1% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 49,181,127 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $28,719,970,000 after buying an additional 1,020,519 shares in the last quarter. Finally, National Wealth Management Group LLC grew its position in Meta Platforms by 18.3% in the fourth quarter. National Wealth Management Group LLC now owns 6,585 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $3,856,000 after buying an additional 1,017 shares during the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Meta Platforms Trading Down 0.1 %

Shares of META stock opened at $576.36 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.46 trillion, a P/E ratio of 24.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.23. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1 year low of $414.50 and a 1 year high of $740.91. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $654.50 and its 200 day simple moving average is $610.25. The company has a current ratio of 2.98, a quick ratio of 2.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The social networking company reported $8.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $6.75 by $1.27. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 37.91% and a return on equity of 38.17%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $5.33 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Increases Dividend

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on META shares. Barclays raised their price objective on Meta Platforms from $630.00 to $705.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Citigroup lifted their price target on Meta Platforms from $753.00 to $780.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. DA Davidson upped their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $700.00 to $800.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $810.00 to $725.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday. Finally, Bank of America boosted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $710.00 to $765.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Two equities research 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. According to data from MarketBeat, Meta Platforms has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $718.55.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Susan J. Li sold 8,553 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Saturday, February 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $736.67, for a total value of $6,300,738.51. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 51,793 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $38,154,349.31. The trade was a 14.17 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 55,589 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $717.72, for a total transaction of $39,897,337.08. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 583,505 shares of company stock worth $385,495,911. Company 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.