Magellan Asset Management Ltd Reduces Stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Magellan Asset Management Ltd trimmed its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 15.2% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 625,106 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 112,332 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms makes up approximately 4.0% of Magellan Asset Management Ltd’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 5th biggest holding. Magellan Asset Management Ltd’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $366,006,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. JDM Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the 3rd quarter worth $30,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the third quarter valued at about $36,000. Millstone Evans Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter valued at about $40,000. Avondale Wealth Management bought a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter valued at about $41,000. Finally, WealthTrak Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter worth approximately $43,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Meta Platforms news, CFO Susan J. Li sold 8,553 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Saturday, February 15th. The stock was 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. This trade represents a 14.17 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 35,921 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $603.98, for a total value of $21,695,565.58. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 584,113 shares of company stock valued at $385,838,234 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

Meta Platforms stock opened at $583.93 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 2.98, a quick ratio of 2.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $653.10 and a 200 day moving average price of $610.50. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12-month low of $414.50 and a 12-month high of $740.91. The stock has a market cap of $1.48 trillion, a P/E ratio of 24.41, a PEG ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.28.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The social networking company reported $8.02 EPS 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 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Increases Dividend

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. Rosenblatt Securities reissued a “buy” rating and set a $811.00 target price on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their target price on Meta Platforms from $810.00 to $725.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday. Piper Sandler upped their target price on Meta Platforms from $670.00 to $775.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Barclays boosted their price target on Meta Platforms from $630.00 to $705.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Argus set a $775.00 price objective on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, thirty-five have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $718.55.

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.