Meridian Investment Counsel Inc. Cuts Stock Position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Meridian Investment Counsel Inc. lowered its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 1.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 6,396 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 126 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms accounts for about 1.1% of Meridian Investment Counsel Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 23rd largest position. Meridian Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $3,745,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in META. Seelaus Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Seelaus Asset Management LLC now owns 1,640 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $960,000 after purchasing an additional 15 shares during the last quarter. Meredith Wealth Planning boosted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Meredith Wealth Planning now owns 1,873 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $1,097,000 after purchasing an additional 15 shares during the period. Maiden Cove Capital LLC grew its holdings in Meta Platforms by 3.2% during the 4th quarter. Maiden Cove Capital LLC now owns 481 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $282,000 after purchasing an additional 15 shares during the last quarter. Stephens Consulting LLC grew its holdings in Meta Platforms by 5.3% during the 4th quarter. Stephens Consulting LLC now owns 317 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $186,000 after purchasing an additional 16 shares during the last quarter. Finally, VeraBank N.A. raised its position in Meta Platforms by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. VeraBank N.A. now owns 1,954 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $1,144,000 after purchasing an additional 16 shares during the period. 79.91% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Meta Platforms Trading Down 4.3 %

NASDAQ:META opened at $576.74 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $1.46 trillion, a P/E ratio of 24.11, a PEG ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.23. The company has a current ratio of 2.98, a quick 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. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $655.23 and a 200-day simple moving average of $609.90.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The social networking company reported $8.02 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 quarter in the previous year, the company posted $5.33 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th were issued a $0.525 dividend. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.36%. This is a positive change from Meta Platforms’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is presently 8.78%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Meta Platforms

In other news, insider Christopher K. Cox sold 20,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $677.71, for a total transaction of $13,554,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 308,686 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $209,199,589.06. This represents a 6.08 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $591.76, for a total transaction of $535,542.80. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 32,915 shares in the company, valued at $19,477,780.40. The trade was a 2.68 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 584,410 shares of company stock valued at $386,031,454. Corporate insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

META has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Meta Platforms from $660.00 to $725.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $770.00 price objective (up previously from $700.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Piper Sandler lifted their target price on Meta Platforms from $670.00 to $775.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $688.00 to $765.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald raised their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $720.00 to $790.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, thirty-five have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Meta Platforms has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $718.31.

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.