Empirical Finance LLC Sells 1,071 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Empirical Finance LLC decreased its position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 1.3% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 79,445 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 1,071 shares during the period. Meta Platforms makes up 2.7% of Empirical Finance LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 5th biggest holding. Empirical Finance LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $46,516,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Moloney Securities Asset Management LLC increased its stake in Meta Platforms by 15.6% in the fourth quarter. Moloney Securities Asset Management LLC now owns 14,140 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $8,279,000 after purchasing an additional 1,910 shares in the last quarter. Hobart Private Capital LLC increased its stake in Meta Platforms by 44.1% in the fourth quarter. Hobart Private Capital LLC now owns 1,373 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $804,000 after purchasing an additional 420 shares in the last quarter. Seelaus Asset Management LLC increased its stake in Meta Platforms by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Seelaus Asset Management LLC now owns 1,640 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $960,000 after purchasing an additional 15 shares in the last quarter. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. increased its stake in Meta Platforms by 5.4% in the fourth quarter. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. now owns 2,362 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $1,383,000 after purchasing an additional 120 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Santori & Peters Inc. increased its stake in Meta Platforms by 9.0% in the fourth quarter. Santori & Peters Inc. now owns 498 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $292,000 after purchasing an additional 41 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have weighed in on META. Sanford C. Bernstein lifted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $675.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Piper Sandler boosted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $670.00 to $775.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Arete Research raised shares of Meta Platforms to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $736.00 to $786.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $660.00 to $725.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Two equities 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 assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $717.90.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Nicholas Clegg sold 7,296 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $553.48, for a total value of $4,038,190.08. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 38,695 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $21,416,908.60. This represents a 15.86 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 902 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $713.32, for a total transaction of $643,414.64. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 27,488 shares in the company, valued at $19,607,740.16. The trade was a 3.18 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 793,070 shares of company stock valued at $504,185,108. Company insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

Shares of META stock opened at $736.67 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.87 trillion, a P/E ratio of 30.80, a PEG ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a current ratio of 2.98, a quick ratio of 2.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $638.73 and its 200 day moving average is $582.68. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12 month low of $414.50 and a 12 month high of $740.91.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The social networking company reported $8.02 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 quarter last year, the firm posted $5.33 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.66 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.525 per share. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.29%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This is a positive change from Meta Platforms’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is 8.36%.

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.