Aviance Capital Partners LLC Has $12.04 Million Holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Aviance Capital Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 2.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 20,562 shares of the social networking company’s stock after purchasing an additional 556 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms accounts for 1.7% of Aviance Capital Partners LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 9th biggest position. Aviance Capital Partners LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $12,039,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also bought and sold shares of META. Proficio Capital Partners LLC increased its stake in Meta Platforms by 78,471.1% during the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 6,248,763 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $3,658,713,000 after purchasing an additional 6,240,810 shares in the last quarter. Integrated Investment Consultants LLC grew its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 61,769.3% during the 3rd quarter. Integrated Investment Consultants LLC now owns 4,132,870 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $2,365,820,000 after acquiring an additional 4,126,190 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter worth approximately $2,243,603,000. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC grew its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 87,269.8% during the 4th quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC now owns 1,067,659 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $625,125,000 after acquiring an additional 1,066,437 shares in the last quarter. Finally, World Investment Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 4,658.5% during the 3rd quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC now owns 909,548 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $520,662,000 after acquiring an additional 890,434 shares in the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Meta Platforms news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 35,921 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $622.24, for a total value of $22,351,483.04. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 608 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $609.00, for a total value of $370,272.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 8,054 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,904,886. This represents a 7.02 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 725,689 shares of company stock worth $473,072,897. Company insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Stock Up 2.3 %

Shares of NASDAQ META opened at $619.56 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 2.98 and a current ratio of 2.98. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 52 week low of $414.50 and a 52 week high of $740.91. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.57 trillion, a P/E ratio of 25.90, a PEG ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.23. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $658.13 and its 200 day moving average is $602.08.

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 period in the previous year, the company earned $5.33 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a $0.525 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.34%. This is a boost from Meta Platforms’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 8.78%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

META has been the subject of several research reports. Barclays raised their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $630.00 to $705.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Rosenblatt Securities reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $811.00 price target on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Monday, January 27th. KeyCorp raised their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $700.00 to $750.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Truist Financial raised their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $700.00 to $770.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $770.00 price objective (up previously from $700.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, thirty-five have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $719.26.

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.