Vicus Capital Reduces Stock Position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Vicus Capital reduced its holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 46.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,673 shares of the social networking company's stock after selling 2,282 shares during the period. Vicus Capital's holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $946,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

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A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in META. WoodTrust Financial Corp boosted its stake in Meta Platforms by 1.8% during the fourth quarter. WoodTrust Financial Corp now owns 1,547 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $548,000 after buying an additional 27 shares during the period. Tennessee Valley Asset Management Partners boosted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Tennessee Valley Asset Management Partners now owns 4,566 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $1,616,000 after purchasing an additional 27 shares during the period. Peterson Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. Peterson Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,468 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $520,000 after purchasing an additional 28 shares during the period. Edge Wealth Management LLC raised its position in Meta Platforms by 4.0% in the 4th quarter. Edge Wealth Management LLC now owns 730 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $258,000 after purchasing an additional 28 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Yarger Wealth Strategies LLC raised its position in Meta Platforms by 4.0% in the 4th quarter. Yarger Wealth Strategies LLC now owns 736 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $260,000 after purchasing an additional 28 shares during the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Meta Platforms Stock Down 4.1 %

Shares of META stock traded down $20.73 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $481.07. 25,215,364 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 11,967,675. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $207.13 and a fifty-two week high of $531.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a quick ratio of 2.67 and a current ratio of 2.67. The company has a market capitalization of $1.23 trillion, a P/E ratio of 32.29, a P/E/G ratio of 1.22 and a beta of 1.20. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $494.55 and its 200 day simple moving average is $399.32.

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Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 1st. The social networking company reported $5.33 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.82 by $0.51. The company had revenue of $40.11 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $39.12 billion. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 29.48% and a net margin of 28.98%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 24.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $3.00 EPS. Research analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 20.18 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 26th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 22nd were given a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.42%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 21st. Meta Platforms's dividend payout ratio is presently 13.42%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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Several analysts recently commented on META shares. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $500.00 to $555.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, April 15th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $527.00 to $588.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 16th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $609.00 to $600.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. JMP Securities boosted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $410.00 to $500.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. Finally, Bank of America boosted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $425.00 to $510.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating, thirty-eight have given a buy rating and two have issued 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 $519.53.

Read Our Latest Stock Analysis on META

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 97,093 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $469.67, for a total transaction of $45,601,669.31. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, CFO Susan J. Li sold 10,956 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $473.28, for a total value of $5,185,255.68. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 76,398 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $36,157,645.44. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 97,093 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, February 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $469.67, for a total value of $45,601,669.31. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 1,421,182 shares of company stock worth $677,574,550. Company insiders own 13.75% of the company's stock.

Meta Platforms Company Profile

(Free Report)

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.

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