Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH decreased its stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 1.7% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 936,148 shares of the social networking company's stock after selling 16,550 shares during the period. Meta Platforms makes up 3.3% of Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH's portfolio, making the stock its 4th biggest position. Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH's holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $539,558,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of META. Valley Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 2.4% in the 4th quarter. Valley Financial Group Inc. now owns 588 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $344,000 after acquiring an additional 14 shares during the period. Lantern Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Lantern Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,976 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $1,743,000 after purchasing an additional 14 shares in the last quarter. Seelaus Asset Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Seelaus Asset Management LLC now owns 1,640 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $960,000 after purchasing an additional 15 shares in the last quarter. Meredith Wealth Planning boosted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Meredith Wealth Planning now owns 1,873 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $1,097,000 after purchasing an additional 15 shares during the period. Finally, Maiden Cove Capital LLC grew its holdings in Meta Platforms by 3.2% during the 4th quarter. Maiden Cove Capital LLC now owns 481 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $282,000 after purchasing an additional 15 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.91% of the company's stock.
Wall Street Analyst Weigh In
META has been the topic of several analyst reports. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $725.00 to $750.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Royal Bank of Canada restated an "outperform" rating and set a $740.00 target price on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on Meta Platforms from $752.00 to $664.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Meta Platforms from $615.00 to $650.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Scotiabank lowered their price objective on Meta Platforms from $627.00 to $525.00 and set a "sector perform" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 21st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, thirty-seven have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Meta Platforms currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $704.26.
Read Our Latest Stock Analysis on Meta Platforms
Meta Platforms Stock Performance
NASDAQ:META traded down $10.49 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $682.87. The stock had a trading volume of 9,259,272 shares, compared to its average volume of 14,501,070. The company has a current ratio of 2.98, a quick ratio of 2.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $600.62 and a 200-day simple moving average of $618.50. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.72 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.55, a P/E/G ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.26. 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 issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The social networking company reported $6.43 earnings per share (EPS) 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 business had revenue of $42.31 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $41.45 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $4.71 earnings per share. The business's revenue was up 16.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.
Meta Platforms Announces Dividend
The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 26th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 16th will be paid a $0.525 dividend. 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 payout ratio is 8.19%.
Insider Activity
In related news, COO Javier Olivan sold 608 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $607.50, for a total value of $369,360.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 7,446 shares in the company, valued at $4,523,445. This represents a 7.55% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 519 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $701.00, for a total transaction of $363,819.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 29,183 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,457,283. The trade was a 1.75% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 86,201 shares of company stock valued at $56,377,837. Company insiders own 13.61% of the company's stock.
Meta Platforms Company Profile
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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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