Callahan Advisors LLC Has $59.33 Million Stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Callahan Advisors LLC lowered its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 3.5% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 102,937 shares of the social networking company's stock after selling 3,781 shares during the period. Meta Platforms comprises 5.7% of Callahan Advisors LLC's holdings, making the stock its largest holding. Callahan Advisors LLC's holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $59,329,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Inlight Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Meta Platforms during the first quarter worth $25,000. Barnes Dennig Private Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Meta Platforms during the first quarter worth $28,000. Millstone Evans Group LLC bought a new position in Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter worth $40,000. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter worth $43,000. Finally, Marshall & Sterling Wealth Advisors Inc. bought a new position in Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter worth $45,000. Institutional investors own 79.91% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 22,449 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $636.85, for a total transaction of $14,296,645.65. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief technology officer directly owned 1,183 shares of the company's stock, valued at $753,393.55. This represents a 94.99% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Susan J. Li sold 6,874 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $659.36, for a total transaction of $4,532,440.64. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 70,040 shares of the company's stock, valued at $46,181,574.40. This represents a 8.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 153,764 shares of company stock valued at $105,721,208 in the last three months. Company insiders own 13.61% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

META has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Raymond James Financial lowered their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $800.00 to $750.00 and set a "strong-buy" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $615.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Loop Capital lifted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $695.00 to $888.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, May 16th. Monness Crespi & Hardt lifted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $775.00 to $780.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an "overweight" rating and set a $828.00 target price (up previously from $807.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Wednesday. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty-eight have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $736.05.

Meta Platforms Stock Down 0.6%

META stock traded down $3.97 during trading on Friday, reaching $697.45. The stock had a trading volume of 4,836,269 shares, compared to its average volume of 14,328,973. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a one year low of $442.65 and a one year high of $747.90. The company has a quick ratio of 2.66, a current ratio of 2.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. The company's 50 day moving average is $683.85 and its two-hundred day moving average is $637.15. The company has a market capitalization of $1.75 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.19, a P/E/G ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 1.28.

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 the consensus estimate of $5.33 by $1.10. The company had revenue of $42.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $41.45 billion. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 39.11% and a return on equity of 38.69%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 16.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $4.71 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 26th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 16th were given a dividend of $0.525 per share. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.30%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 16th. Meta Platforms's dividend payout ratio is currently 8.19%.

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.