Douglas Lane & Associates LLC trimmed its position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 2.0% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 109,664 shares of the social networking company's stock after selling 2,278 shares during the period. Douglas Lane & Associates LLC's holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $63,206,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.
Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Millstone Evans Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter worth $40,000. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter valued at about $43,000. Marshall & Sterling Wealth Advisors Inc. bought a new position in Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter worth about $45,000. Stuart Chaussee & Associates Inc. bought a new position in Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter worth about $47,000. Finally, Conquis Financial LLC bought a new position in Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter worth about $59,000. 79.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.
Meta Platforms Stock Performance
Shares of NASDAQ META traded up $23.41 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $670.90. 15,706,506 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 14,487,030. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.69 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.05, a P/E/G ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.24. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $578.56 and its 200 day simple moving average is $611.28. 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 52 week low of $442.65 and a 52 week high of $740.91.
Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The social networking company reported $6.43 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.33 by $1.10. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 38.17% and a net margin of 37.91%. The firm had revenue of $42.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $41.45 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $4.71 EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was up 16.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current year.
Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement
The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 26th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 16th will be issued a dividend of $0.525 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 16th. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.31%. Meta Platforms's dividend payout ratio is presently 8.19%.
Insider Transactions at Meta Platforms
In other news, COO Javier Olivan sold 608 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $488.18, for a total value of $296,813.44. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 5,622 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,744,547.96. The trade was a 9.76% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 921 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $644.00, for a total transaction of $593,124.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 33,945 shares in the company, valued at $21,860,580. This trade represents a 2.64% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 56,056 shares of company stock valued at $35,074,903. 13.61% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.
Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades
Several research analysts recently weighed in on META shares. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $650.00 to $683.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Wedbush boosted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $680.00 to $750.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $740.00 price objective on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Oppenheimer increased their price target on Meta Platforms from $650.00 to $665.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Loop Capital lifted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $695.00 to $888.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, May 16th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, thirty-seven have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $701.05.
Check Out Our Latest Analysis on META
Meta Platforms Company Profile
(
Free Report)
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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