Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) Shares Sold by B & T Capital Management DBA Alpha Capital Management

B & T Capital Management DBA Alpha Capital Management trimmed its stake in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 4.8% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 15,004 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 754 shares during the period. Meta Platforms makes up 1.6% of B & T Capital Management DBA Alpha Capital Management’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 18th biggest position. B & T Capital Management DBA Alpha Capital Management’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $8,785,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of META. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.9% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 13,827,565 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $7,915,451,000 after purchasing an additional 118,298 shares during the last quarter. LS Investment Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 111.4% during the 3rd quarter. LS Investment Advisors LLC now owns 11,679 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $6,686,000 after buying an additional 6,155 shares during the last quarter. Cutter & CO Brokerage Inc. boosted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.7% during the 3rd quarter. Cutter & CO Brokerage Inc. now owns 9,735 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $5,573,000 after acquiring an additional 65 shares in the last quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC increased its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.4% in the 3rd quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 412,046 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $235,872,000 after acquiring an additional 5,594 shares during the last quarter. Finally, M&G PLC raised its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 14.6% during the 3rd quarter. M&G PLC now owns 721,339 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $412,606,000 after acquiring an additional 91,773 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Meta Platforms

In related news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of Meta Platforms 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 transaction, the insider now owns 31,105 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,804,216.70. This trade represents a 2.83 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 35,921 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $616.16, for a total value of $22,133,083.36. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 496,174 shares of company stock worth $301,408,499. 13.71% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Meta Platforms Stock Up 0.2 %

META stock opened at $612.77 on Monday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $596.78 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $557.04. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $1.55 trillion, a P/E ratio of 28.86, a PEG ratio of 1.22 and a beta of 1.19. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a one year low of $370.95 and a one year high of $638.40.

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

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 27th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 16th were issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 16th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.33%. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is currently 9.42%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on META. TD Cowen upped their price target on Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $675.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Truist Financial lifted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $650.00 to $700.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $641.00 to $685.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Sanford C. Bernstein raised their price objective on Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $675.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, October 25th. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $811.00 target price on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, thirty-five have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $650.05.

About Meta Platforms

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.