Brown Advisory Inc. Sells 88,004 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Brown Advisory Inc. decreased its position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 10.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 743,190 shares of the social networking company's stock after selling 88,004 shares during the period. Brown Advisory Inc.'s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $435,146,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Meta Platforms by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 191,198,005 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $111,948,344,000 after purchasing an additional 1,502,553 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Meta Platforms by 2.1% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 49,181,127 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $28,719,970,000 after buying an additional 1,020,519 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 2.5% during the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 42,317,434 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $24,777,282,000 after buying an additional 1,049,121 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors grew its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 2.9% in the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 40,317,105 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $23,606,338,000 after acquiring an additional 1,141,355 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter valued at about $19,949,512,000. 79.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

NASDAQ:META opened at $597.02 on Friday. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a twelve month low of $442.65 and a twelve month high of $740.91. 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 stock's 50-day simple moving average is $575.29 and its 200 day simple moving average is $603.80. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.51 trillion, a PE ratio of 24.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.24.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The social networking company reported $6.43 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $5.33 by $1.10. The company had revenue of $42.31 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $41.45 billion. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 37.91% and a return on equity of 38.17%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 16.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $4.71 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th were issued a dividend of $0.525 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. This is an increase from Meta Platforms's previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.35%. Meta Platforms's dividend payout ratio is 8.19%.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 921 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $545.17, for a total value of $502,101.57. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 26,577 shares in the company, valued at $14,488,983.09. This trade represents a 3.35 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 413 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $676.00, for a total transaction of $279,188.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 15,449 shares in the company, valued at $10,443,524. The trade was a 2.60 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 237,017 shares of company stock worth $167,207,524. Insiders own 13.71% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have weighed in on META. Bank of America raised their price target on Meta Platforms from $640.00 to $690.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday. Argus set a $775.00 target price on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Scotiabank dropped their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $627.00 to $525.00 and set a "sector perform" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 21st. Moffett Nathanson lifted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $525.00 to $605.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $615.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, thirty-seven have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $696.45.

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.

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