Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) is Avity Investment Management Inc.’s 3rd Largest Position

Avity Investment Management Inc. lessened its position in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 1.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 97,394 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 1,178 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms makes up about 4.5% of Avity Investment Management Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 3rd largest position. Avity Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $57,025,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. JDM Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in Meta Platforms during the third quarter worth $30,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms during the 3rd quarter worth about $36,000. Avondale Wealth Management purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter worth about $41,000. Halpern Financial Inc. acquired a new position in Meta Platforms in the 3rd quarter valued at about $46,000. Finally, West Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Meta Platforms in the 3rd quarter valued at about $49,000. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on META shares. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $555.00 to $636.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, October 14th. Mizuho boosted their price target on Meta Platforms from $650.00 to $675.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Truist Financial increased their price target on Meta Platforms from $650.00 to $700.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $660.00 to $725.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on Meta Platforms from $590.00 to $663.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, October 14th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, thirty-five have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $650.05.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Susan J. Li sold 8,951 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $577.16, for a total value of $5,166,159.16. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 51,591 shares in the company, valued at approximately $29,776,261.56. The trade was a 14.78 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 413 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $580.65, for a total value of $239,808.45. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 11,120 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,456,828. This represents a 3.58 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 495,682 shares of company stock worth $301,101,199. 13.71% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ META opened at $617.12 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 2.73, a current ratio of 2.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $358.61 and a fifty-two week high of $638.40. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $595.02 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $554.81. The firm has a market cap of $1.56 trillion, a PE ratio of 29.07, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 1.19.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The social networking company reported $6.03 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.19 by $0.84. The business had revenue of $40.59 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $40.21 billion. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 35.55% and a return on equity of 35.60%. Sell-side analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 22.68 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. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 16th were given a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.32%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 16th. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is currently 9.42%.

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.