MSA Advisors LLC Sells 2,000 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

MSA Advisors LLC reduced its stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 7.6% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 24,324 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 2,000 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms accounts for 3.6% of MSA Advisors LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 9th biggest position. MSA Advisors LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $14,242,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. JDM Financial Group LLC bought a new position in Meta Platforms during the 3rd quarter worth $30,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the third quarter valued at $36,000. Millstone Evans Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter worth about $40,000. Avondale Wealth Management bought a new stake in Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter valued at about $41,000. Finally, Cordant Inc. acquired a new position in Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter valued at about $59,000. 79.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Meta Platforms news, COO Javier Olivan sold 4,706 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 $3,466,769.02. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 20,935 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $15,422,186.45. This represents a 18.35 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 921 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $627.05, for a total value of $577,513.05. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 31,182 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $19,552,673.10. The trade was a 2.87 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 584,823 shares of company stock valued at $386,274,777. Company insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on META shares. Benchmark raised Meta Platforms from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $820.00 price target on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Oppenheimer lifted their target price on Meta Platforms from $650.00 to $800.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Robert W. Baird increased their price target on Meta Platforms from $680.00 to $750.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. DA Davidson lifted 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. Finally, Wolfe Research increased their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $670.00 to $730.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Two equities 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, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $718.31.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

Shares of META opened at $602.58 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $1.53 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.23. The company’s fifty day moving average is $655.95 and its 200-day moving average is $607.98. 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 12 month low of $414.50 and a 12 month high of $740.91.

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 company posted $5.33 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th were paid a $0.525 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. This is a boost from Meta Platforms’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.35%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 8.78%.

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.