Creekmur Asset Management LLC Trims Stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Creekmur Asset Management LLC lowered its stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 13.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 910 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 137 shares during the quarter. Creekmur Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $533,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. JDM Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the third quarter worth about $30,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC purchased a new position in Meta Platforms in the third quarter worth approximately $36,000. Millstone Evans Group LLC acquired a new position in Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter worth approximately $40,000. Avondale Wealth Management purchased a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $41,000. Finally, WealthTrak Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $43,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

NASDAQ META opened at $586.00 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 2.98, a current ratio of 2.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. The stock has a market cap of $1.48 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.28. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $414.50 and a fifty-two week high of $740.91. The business has a fifty day moving average of $653.89 and a 200-day moving average of $610.68.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last released 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 period last year, the business posted $5.33 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th were paid a $0.525 dividend. This is a boost from Meta Platforms’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.36%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is presently 8.78%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Meta Platforms

In related news, CFO Susan J. Li sold 8,553 shares of the stock in a transaction on Saturday, February 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $736.67, for a total value of $6,300,738.51. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 51,793 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $38,154,349.31. This trade represents a 14.17 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 35,921 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $603.98, for a total value of $21,695,565.58. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 583,505 shares of company stock worth $385,495,911. Insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently commented on META. Rosenblatt Securities reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $811.00 target price on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Wolfe Research upped their price objective on Meta Platforms from $670.00 to $730.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Susquehanna raised their target price on Meta Platforms from $675.00 to $800.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Bank of America boosted their target price on Meta Platforms from $710.00 to $765.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, JMP Securities reiterated a “market outperform” rating and issued a $750.00 price target on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, thirty-five have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $718.55.

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.