Epiq Partners LLC Sells 200 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Epiq Partners LLC decreased its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 14.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,233 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 200 shares during the period. Epiq Partners LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $722,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. JDM Financial Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the 3rd quarter worth about $30,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC bought a new position in Meta Platforms in the third quarter worth approximately $36,000. Avondale Wealth Management acquired a new stake in Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $41,000. Halpern Financial Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the third quarter valued at approximately $46,000. Finally, West Financial Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the 3rd quarter worth $49,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Meta Platforms

In other news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 901 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $567.70, for a total transaction of $511,497.70. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 30,581 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $17,360,833.70. The trade was a 2.86 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 5,057 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, November 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $577.16, for a total value of $2,918,698.12. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief technology officer now directly owns 8,565 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,943,375.40. This represents a 37.12 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 661,804 shares of company stock worth $407,745,741 over the last three months. 13.71% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

NASDAQ META opened at $689.18 on Friday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $613.60 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $565.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a current ratio of 2.73 and a quick ratio of 2.73. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1 year low of $387.10 and a 1 year high of $710.79. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.74 trillion, a PE ratio of 28.81, a P/E/G ratio of 1.35 and a beta of 1.19.

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, beating the consensus estimate of $6.75 by $1.27. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 39.74% and a net margin of 37.91%. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $5.33 earnings per share. Analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 25.44 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 27th. Investors of record on Monday, December 16th were paid a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.29%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 16th. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is currently 8.36%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have commented on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $700.00 to $800.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday. Sanford C. Bernstein upped their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $675.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, October 25th. UBS Group lifted their price target on Meta Platforms from $736.00 to $786.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday. Benchmark raised Meta Platforms from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $820.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Thursday. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on Meta Platforms from $530.00 to $610.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, thirty-six have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Meta Platforms currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $706.76.

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.