Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) Shares Sold by Woodward Diversified Capital LLC

Woodward Diversified Capital LLC decreased its stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 16.1% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,196 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 612 shares during the period. Meta Platforms accounts for 1.4% of Woodward Diversified Capital LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 10th largest holding. Woodward Diversified Capital LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $1,872,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. JDM Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the 3rd quarter valued at $30,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms in the 3rd quarter valued at $36,000. Avondale Wealth Management purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter valued at $41,000. Cordant Inc. purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter valued at $59,000. Finally, Reston Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms in the 3rd quarter valued at $61,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ META opened at $728.56 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $1.85 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.46, a PEG ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 1.20. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 52 week low of $414.50 and a 52 week high of $729.00. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $636.47 and its 200 day moving average price is $580.80. 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 (NASDAQ:META) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The social networking company reported $8.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 posted $5.33 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.66 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.525 per share. This is a boost from Meta Platforms’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.29%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 8.36%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Meta Platforms news, CFO Susan J. Li sold 18,644 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $553.55, for a total transaction of $10,320,386.20. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 46,769 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $25,888,979.95. This trade represents a 28.50 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CAO Aaron Anderson sold 731 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $557.00, for a total transaction of $407,167.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 3,414 shares in the company, valued at $1,901,598. This represents a 17.64 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 793,070 shares of company stock valued at $504,185,108 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

META has been the subject of several research reports. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $736.00 to $786.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Bank of America upped their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $710.00 to $765.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Oppenheimer upped their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $650.00 to $800.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Tigress Financial upped their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $645.00 to $935.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Roth Mkm upped their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $620.00 to $635.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, thirty-five have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $717.90.

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.