McAlister Sweet & Associates Inc. Has $264,000 Position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

McAlister Sweet & Associates Inc. lowered its stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 68.5% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 458 shares of the social networking company's stock after selling 995 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms comprises about 0.2% of McAlister Sweet & Associates Inc.'s portfolio, making the stock its 25th biggest holding. McAlister Sweet & Associates Inc.'s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $264,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Apella Capital LLC raised its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 40.6% during the first quarter. Apella Capital LLC now owns 3,560 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $2,085,000 after acquiring an additional 1,028 shares during the period. Triangle Securities Wealth Management raised its stake in Meta Platforms by 1.5% during the 1st quarter. Triangle Securities Wealth Management now owns 4,741 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $2,733,000 after purchasing an additional 68 shares during the period. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 18.5% in the first quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 17,747 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $10,229,000 after purchasing an additional 2,772 shares in the last quarter. Clarus Wealth Advisors boosted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 9.7% in the first quarter. Clarus Wealth Advisors now owns 1,988 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $1,165,000 after buying an additional 175 shares during the period. Finally, Romano Brothers AND Company grew its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 6.2% during the first quarter. Romano Brothers AND Company now owns 3,519 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $2,028,000 after buying an additional 204 shares in the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have commented on META. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on Meta Platforms from $685.00 to $690.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Scotiabank decreased their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $627.00 to $525.00 and set a "sector perform" rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 21st. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $725.00 to $600.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 7th. Bank of America increased their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $640.00 to $690.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Roth Capital boosted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $580.00 to $620.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, thirty-seven have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Meta Platforms currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $702.48.

Insider Transactions at Meta Platforms

In other news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 519 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $635.41, for a total value of $329,777.79. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 30,221 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $19,202,725.61. This represents a 1.69% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 406 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $491.69, for a total transaction of $199,626.14. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 4,608 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,265,707.52. This trade represents a 8.10% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 55,652 shares of company stock valued at $34,815,208 over the last 90 days. 13.61% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Meta Platforms Trading Down 0.5%

NASDAQ:META traded down $3.33 on Thursday, reaching $684.62. The company's stock had a trading volume of 13,062,206 shares, compared to its average volume of 14,510,799. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 2.98 and a current ratio of 2.98. The firm has a market cap of $1.72 trillion, a PE ratio of 28.62, a PEG ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.24. The business's 50-day moving average price is $583.27 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $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 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 net margin of 37.91% and a return on equity of 38.17%. The company had revenue of $42.31 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $41.45 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $4.71 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up 16.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 26th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 16th will be issued a $0.525 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 16th. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.31%. Meta Platforms's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.