Ellevest Inc. Has $10.89 Million Holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Ellevest Inc. cut its position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 14.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 18,607 shares of the social networking company's stock after selling 3,095 shares during the period. Meta Platforms accounts for about 0.6% of Ellevest Inc.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 23rd biggest position. Ellevest Inc.'s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $10,894,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in META. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $19,949,512,000. Proficio Capital Partners LLC boosted its position in Meta Platforms by 78,471.1% in the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 6,248,763 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $3,658,713,000 after buying an additional 6,240,810 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter valued at $2,243,603,000. Northern Trust Corp raised its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 13.5% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 23,445,565 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $13,727,613,000 after acquiring an additional 2,787,832 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership boosted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 27.0% in the fourth quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 8,901,521 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $5,211,967,000 after acquiring an additional 1,892,509 shares during the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ META traded down $5.52 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $592.49. 10,401,916 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 14,465,666. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $568.87 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $604.50. The company has a market cap of $1.50 trillion, a PE ratio of 24.77, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 2.98 and a current ratio of 2.98. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1-year low of $442.65 and a 1-year high of $740.91.

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

Meta Platforms Increases Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Meta Platforms

In other news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 902 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $713.32, for a total transaction of $643,414.64. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 27,488 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $19,607,740.16. This trade represents a 3.18 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 19,668 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $721.69, for a total value of $14,194,198.92. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 155,689 shares of company stock worth $109,097,842 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 13.71% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

META has been the subject of several recent research reports. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $628.00 to $655.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $615.00 to $650.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Benchmark lowered their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $820.00 to $640.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Bank of America increased 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, May 1st. Finally, Arete Research upgraded Meta Platforms to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. One investment 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 given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Meta Platforms currently has an average 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.