Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) Stock Holdings Cut by Callahan Advisors LLC

Callahan Advisors LLC lowered its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 5.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 106,718 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 5,697 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms makes up approximately 5.9% of Callahan Advisors LLC’s holdings, making the stock its biggest position. Callahan Advisors LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $62,485,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in META. Seelaus Asset Management LLC raised its position in Meta Platforms by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Seelaus Asset Management LLC now owns 1,640 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $960,000 after acquiring an additional 15 shares during the period. Meredith Wealth Planning increased its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.8% in 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 in the last quarter. Stephens Consulting LLC lifted its position in Meta Platforms by 5.3% during the fourth 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 in the last quarter. VeraBank N.A. lifted its position in Meta Platforms by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. VeraBank N.A. now owns 1,954 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $1,144,000 after purchasing an additional 16 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Lindenwold Advisors INC grew its holdings in Meta Platforms by 0.3% during the third quarter. Lindenwold Advisors INC now owns 5,918 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $3,388,000 after purchasing an additional 17 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, COO Javier Olivan sold 413 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $577.49, for a total value of $238,503.37. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 19,166 shares in the company, valued at $11,068,173.34. The trade was a 2.11 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Susan J. Li sold 8,553 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 transaction of $6,300,738.51. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 51,793 shares in the company, valued at approximately $38,154,349.31. The trade was a 14.17 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 812,422 shares of company stock valued at $525,534,818. Corporate insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

META has been the topic of several recent research reports. UBS Group raised their price objective on Meta Platforms from $736.00 to $786.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Arete Research raised shares of Meta Platforms to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Needham & Company LLC reissued an “underperform” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and set a $770.00 target price (up previously from $700.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Truist Financial raised their price target on Meta Platforms from $700.00 to $770.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, thirty-five have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $719.26.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

META opened at $668.13 on Tuesday. The business has a fifty day moving average of $647.97 and a 200 day moving average of $593.08. The stock has a market cap of $1.69 trillion, a P/E ratio of 27.93, a PEG ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.20. 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 52-week low of $414.50 and a 52-week high of $740.91.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The social networking company reported $8.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 last year, the company earned $5.33 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a dividend of $0.525 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This is a positive change from Meta Platforms’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.31%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 8.78%.

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.