Eads & Heald Wealth Management Sells 78 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Eads & Heald Wealth Management lowered its holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 3.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,370 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 78 shares during the period. Eads & Heald Wealth Management’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $1,388,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. JDM Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in Meta Platforms during the third quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC bought a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the third quarter valued at $36,000. Avondale Wealth Management acquired a new position in Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter worth $41,000. Halpern Financial Inc. bought a new stake in Meta Platforms during the third quarter worth $46,000. Finally, West Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the 3rd quarter worth about $49,000. 79.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Meta Platforms Stock Up 1.7 %

Shares of NASDAQ:META opened at $647.49 on Friday. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 52-week low of $385.66 and a 52-week high of $652.00. The company has a market capitalization of $1.63 trillion, a PE ratio of 30.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.19. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a quick ratio of 2.73 and a current ratio of 2.73. The company has a fifty day moving average of $601.93 and a 200-day moving average of $560.12.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The social networking company reported $6.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.19 by $0.84. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 35.60% and a net margin of 35.55%. The business had revenue of $40.59 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $40.21 billion. On average, equities analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 22.96 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 27th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 16th were issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.31%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 16th. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is 9.42%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Meta Platforms

In related news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $580.10, for a total value of $524,990.50. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 31,482 shares in the company, valued at $18,262,708.20. This represents a 2.79 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 420 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $600.17, for a total value of $252,071.40. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 518,004 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $310,890,460.68. This represents a 0.08 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 568,016 shares of company stock worth $346,031,180. 13.71% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

META has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. UBS Group boosted their price target on Meta Platforms from $690.00 to $719.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Piper Sandler increased their price target on Meta Platforms from $650.00 to $670.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $590.00 to $663.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, October 14th. Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $645.00 to $705.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Guggenheim lifted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $665.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, October 7th. Two equities research 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 presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $654.20.

Meta Platforms 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.