Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) Shares Sold by Thompson Investment Management Inc.

Thompson Investment Management Inc. lessened its holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 17.6% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 19,231 shares of the social networking company's stock after selling 4,111 shares during the period. Meta Platforms makes up approximately 1.7% of Thompson Investment Management Inc.'s portfolio, making the stock its 8th largest position. Thompson Investment Management Inc.'s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $11,084,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in META. Millstone Evans Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter valued at $40,000. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter valued at $43,000. Marshall & Sterling Wealth Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter worth about $45,000. Stuart Chaussee & Associates Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter valued at about $47,000. Finally, Principia Wealth Advisory LLC raised its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 53.6% during the 1st quarter. Principia Wealth Advisory LLC now owns 86 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $50,000 after acquiring an additional 30 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.91% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, 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 completion of the transaction, the chief technology officer now owns 16,463 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $10,855,043.68. This represents a 23.50% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 608 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 7th. The stock was 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 owns 5,622 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,744,547.96. The trade was a 9.76% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 86,201 shares of company stock worth $56,377,837 over the last three months. 13.61% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

META has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $725.00 to $600.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 7th. Bank of America upped their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $690.00 to $765.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday. Roth Capital lifted their target price on Meta Platforms from $580.00 to $620.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. TD Securities decreased their target price on Meta Platforms from $725.00 to $700.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Raymond James lowered their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $800.00 to $750.00 and set a "strong-buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, thirty-seven have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $704.26.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

META stock traded down $10.49 during 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. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1-year low of $442.65 and a 1-year high of $740.91. The stock has a market cap of $1.72 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.26. The company's 50 day moving average price is $600.62 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $618.50. 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 (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The social networking company reported $6.43 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates 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 quarter in the previous year, the business earned $4.71 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 16.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

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 issued a dividend of $0.525 per share. 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 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.