Freedom Investment Management Inc. Has $6.07 Million Position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Freedom Investment Management Inc. cut its holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 4.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 10,363 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 532 shares during the quarter. Freedom Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $6,068,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Millstone Evans Group LLC acquired a new stake in Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter worth $40,000. Avondale Wealth Management acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter worth about $41,000. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $43,000. Cordant Inc. acquired a new stake in Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter worth approximately $59,000. Finally, Conquis Financial LLC bought a new position in Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $59,000. 79.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Meta Platforms Trading Down 0.2 %

NASDAQ META opened at $501.48 on Friday. The business’s fifty day moving average is $612.51 and its 200 day moving average is $607.32. The company has a quick ratio of 2.98, a current ratio of 2.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a twelve month low of $414.50 and a twelve month high of $740.91. The company has a market cap of $1.27 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.28.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last announced its 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 return on equity of 38.17% and a net margin of 37.91%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $5.33 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current fiscal 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 is an increase from Meta Platforms’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.42%. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is currently 8.78%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

META has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Pivotal Research raised their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $800.00 to $875.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Mizuho increased their price objective on Meta Platforms from $675.00 to $750.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on Meta Platforms from $530.00 to $610.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $630.00 to $705.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reissued an “underperform” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, thirty-five have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $684.10.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Meta Platforms news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $618.00, for a total transaction of $559,290.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 30,200 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $18,663,600. The trade was a 2.91 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 35,921 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $626.80, for a total value of $22,515,282.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 379,901 shares of company stock worth $260,806,516. 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.