Phoenix Financial Ltd. Sells 55,847 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Phoenix Financial Ltd. decreased its holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 25.2% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 166,019 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 55,847 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms comprises approximately 1.3% of Phoenix Financial Ltd.’s holdings, making the stock its 26th largest position. Phoenix Financial Ltd.’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $97,210,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Millstone Evans Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter valued at about $40,000. Avondale Wealth Management bought a new position in Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter valued at $41,000. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter worth approximately $43,000. Cordant Inc. purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter valued at about $59,000. Finally, Conquis Financial LLC bought a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter worth $59,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

Shares of META stock opened at $585.77 on Thursday. 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 stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $634.58 and a 200-day simple moving average of $609.40. The company has a market cap of $1.48 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.28.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last posted its 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 net margin of 37.91% and a return on equity of 38.17%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $5.33 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th were paid a dividend of $0.525 per share. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.36%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. This is an increase from Meta Platforms’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is 8.78%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $530.00 to $610.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $790.00 price objective on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. DA Davidson increased their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $700.00 to $800.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Rosenblatt Securities restated a “buy” rating and issued a $811.00 price target on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Barclays upped their target price on Meta Platforms from $630.00 to $705.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, thirty-five have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Meta Platforms has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $708.55.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Meta Platforms news, CFO Susan J. Li sold 8,553 shares of the stock in a transaction on Saturday, February 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $736.67, for a total value of $6,300,738.51. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 51,793 shares in the company, valued at $38,154,349.31. This trade represents a 14.17 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $604.54, for a total value of $547,108.70. Following the sale, the insider now owns 31,105 shares in the company, valued at $18,804,216.70. This represents a 2.83 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 499,507 shares of company stock worth $334,165,387 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

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.