Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) Shares Sold by Lake Street Private Wealth LLC

Lake Street Private Wealth LLC reduced its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 4.2% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 13,933 shares of the social networking company's stock after selling 617 shares during the period. Meta Platforms makes up 1.3% of Lake Street Private Wealth LLC's holdings, making the stock its 14th largest position. Lake Street Private Wealth LLC's holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $8,030,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in META. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter valued at about $19,949,512,000. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in Meta Platforms by 67,172.9% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 23,452,665 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $13,517,178,000 after buying an additional 23,417,803 shares in the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC grew its stake in Meta Platforms by 78,471.1% during 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 purchasing an additional 6,240,810 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter valued at about $2,243,603,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp grew its stake in Meta Platforms by 13.5% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 23,445,565 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $13,727,613,000 after purchasing an additional 2,787,832 shares during the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, COO Javier Olivan sold 608 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $609.00, for a total transaction of $370,272.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 8,054 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,904,886. This represents a 7.02% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 5,057 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $659.36, for a total value of $3,334,383.52. Following the transaction, the chief technology officer now directly owns 16,463 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,855,043.68. The trade was a 23.50% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 55,652 shares of company stock valued at $34,815,208. Corporate insiders own 13.61% of the company's stock.

Meta Platforms Trading Down 0.5%

NASDAQ META traded down $3.33 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $684.62. The company had a trading volume of 13,062,206 shares, compared to its average volume of 14,506,457. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $1.72 trillion, a P/E ratio of 28.62, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.24. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $583.27 and a 200 day moving average of $613.00. 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 announced its earnings results 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. 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 37.91% and a return on equity of 38.17%. Meta Platforms's revenue was up 16.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $4.71 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed 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 of this dividend is Monday, June 16th. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.31%. Meta Platforms's payout ratio is presently 8.19%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have weighed in on META shares. Evercore ISI boosted their price target on Meta Platforms from $725.00 to $750.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Scotiabank dropped their price target on Meta Platforms from $627.00 to $525.00 and set a "sector perform" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 21st. Monness Crespi & Hardt boosted their price target on Meta Platforms from $775.00 to $780.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Piper Sandler upped their target price on Meta Platforms from $610.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, UBS Group upped their target price on Meta Platforms from $650.00 to $683.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. One equities research 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 issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $702.48.

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.