ST Germain D J Co. Inc. Trims Holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

ST Germain D J Co. Inc. lessened its holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 1.7% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 96,563 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 1,664 shares during the period. Meta Platforms accounts for approximately 2.6% of ST Germain D J Co. Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 5th largest position. ST Germain D J Co. Inc.’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $56,539,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in META. JDM Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in Meta Platforms in the third quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $36,000. Avondale Wealth Management bought a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter valued at $41,000. Halpern Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the third quarter worth $46,000. Finally, West Financial Advisors LLC bought a new position in Meta Platforms during the third quarter worth $49,000. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have weighed in on META shares. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on Meta Platforms from $675.00 to $715.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday. Wedbush lifted their target price on Meta Platforms from $640.00 to $680.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday. Wolfe Research increased their price target on Meta Platforms from $670.00 to $730.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Rosenblatt Securities reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $811.00 price objective on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Scotiabank dropped their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $585.00 to $583.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Two 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 MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $646.90.

Insider Buying and Selling at Meta Platforms

In other Meta Platforms news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 84 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, October 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $600.00, for a total transaction of $50,400.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 518,424 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $311,054,400. This trade represents a 0.02 % 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, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $589.97, for a total value of $533,922.85. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 33,292 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $19,641,281.24. The trade was a 2.65 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 410,536 shares of company stock valued at $249,024,275 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Trading Up 0.8 %

Shares of NASDAQ:META traded up $4.74 on Friday, hitting $615.46. 7,375,008 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 11,297,995. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.55 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 1.19. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12 month low of $358.61 and a 12 month high of $638.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a current ratio of 2.73 and a quick ratio of 2.73. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $592.65 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $552.16.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The social networking company reported $6.03 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.19 by $0.84. The company had revenue of $40.59 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $40.21 billion. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 35.55% and a return on equity of 35.60%. Analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 22.68 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 27th. Investors of record on Monday, December 16th were paid a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 16th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.32%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.