Two Sigma Securities LLC Sells 24,263 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Two Sigma Securities LLC lessened its holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 80.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 5,870 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 24,263 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms comprises 0.5% of Two Sigma Securities LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 15th largest position. Two Sigma Securities LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $3,437,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in META. Millstone Evans Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $40,000. Avondale Wealth Management purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter valued at $41,000. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter worth $43,000. Cordant Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter worth $59,000. Finally, Conquis Financial LLC bought a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter valued at $59,000. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Meta Platforms

In related news, COO Javier Olivan sold 406 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction on Monday, April 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $491.69, for a total value of $199,626.14. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 4,608 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,265,707.52. This trade represents a 8.10 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 921 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $491.87, for a total transaction of $453,012.27. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 27,498 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,525,441.26. This represents a 3.24 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 308,068 shares of company stock valued at $214,968,924. Company insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Trading Up 2.5 %

Meta Platforms stock opened at $533.15 on Friday. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 52 week low of $414.50 and a 52 week high of $740.91. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $590.37 and a 200 day moving average price of $604.75. The company has a quick ratio of 2.98, a current ratio of 2.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. The company has a market capitalization of $1.35 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.28.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The social networking company reported $8.02 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $6.75 by $1.27. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 38.17% and a net margin of 37.91%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $5.33 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th were given a dividend of $0.525 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.39%. This is an increase from Meta Platforms’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is currently 8.78%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

META has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. UBS Group decreased their target price on Meta Platforms from $786.00 to $650.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 11th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $725.00 to $600.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 7th. Mizuho lifted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $675.00 to $750.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. KeyCorp lowered their price target on Meta Platforms from $710.00 to $645.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed an “underperform” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Wednesday. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, thirty-six have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $676.55.

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.