Sawyer & Company Inc Trims Stock Holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Sawyer & Company Inc lowered its holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 3.8% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 8,814 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 352 shares during the period. Meta Platforms comprises about 1.3% of Sawyer & Company Inc’s portfolio, making the stock its 28th largest holding. Sawyer & Company Inc’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $3,120,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Sandy Cove Advisors LLC raised its stake in Meta Platforms by 15.1% during the fourth quarter. Sandy Cove Advisors LLC now owns 3,814 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $1,350,000 after buying an additional 499 shares in the last quarter. Tectonic Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 4.3% during the 4th quarter. Tectonic Advisors LLC now owns 3,584 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $1,269,000 after purchasing an additional 147 shares during the period. Alhambra Investment Management LLC raised its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 3.8% during the 4th quarter. Alhambra Investment Management LLC now owns 978 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $346,000 after purchasing an additional 36 shares during the period. Twin Peaks Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter worth approximately $3,981,000. Finally, Sterling Financial Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 19.8% during the 4th quarter. Sterling Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,064 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $377,000 after purchasing an additional 176 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Meta Platforms news, COO Javier Olivan sold 490 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $488.03, for a total value of $239,134.70. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 79,944 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $39,015,070.32. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 77,412 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $506.92, for a total transaction of $39,241,691.04. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 490 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $488.03, for a total transaction of $239,134.70. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 79,944 shares in the company, valued at $39,015,070.32. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 1,442,145 shares of company stock valued at $665,553,088. Corporate insiders own 14.03% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Trading Down 1.4 %

Shares of NASDAQ:META traded down $7.13 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $495.89. 11,179,784 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 18,088,033. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.26 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.10, a PEG ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 1.21. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $459.76 and its 200-day moving average price is $373.07. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a quick ratio of 2.67 and a current ratio of 2.67. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a twelve month low of $197.90 and a twelve month high of $523.57.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 1st. The social networking company reported $5.33 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.82 by $0.51. The firm had revenue of $40.11 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $39.12 billion. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 28.98% and a return on equity of 29.48%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 24.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $3.00 earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 19.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 26th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 22nd will be given a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.40%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, February 21st. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is 13.42%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently commented on META. Citigroup raised their target price on Meta Platforms from $440.00 to $525.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. Monness Crespi & Hardt raised their target price on Meta Platforms from $370.00 to $540.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. JMP Securities increased their price target on Meta Platforms from $410.00 to $500.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. UBS Group increased their price target on Meta Platforms from $425.00 to $530.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. Finally, TD Cowen increased their price target on Meta Platforms from $415.00 to $500.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, thirty-nine have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $496.35.

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.