Washburn Capital Management Inc. Sells 368 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Washburn Capital Management Inc. lowered its stake in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 6.3% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 5,435 shares of the social networking company's stock after selling 368 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms accounts for 1.7% of Washburn Capital Management Inc.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 9th biggest position. Washburn Capital Management Inc.'s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $3,133,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Inlight Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Meta Platforms in the 1st quarter worth $25,000. Barnes Dennig Private Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the first quarter valued at about $28,000. Millstone Evans Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter valued at about $40,000. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter valued at about $43,000. Finally, Marshall & Sterling Wealth Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter valued at about $45,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.91% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on META shares. Needham & Company LLC upgraded shares of Meta Platforms from an "underperform" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 3rd. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $740.00 target price on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Loop Capital lifted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $695.00 to $888.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, May 16th. Pivotal Research cut their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $875.00 to $830.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Roth Capital lifted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $620.00 to $740.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty-eight have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $752.33.

Meta Platforms Stock Down 0.3%

Meta Platforms stock traded down $2.12 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $712.68. 8,253,539 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 10,556,341. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 2.66 and a current ratio of 2.66. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12 month low of $450.80 and a 12 month high of $747.90. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $692.48 and a two-hundred day moving average of $641.78. The company has a market cap of $1.79 trillion, a PE ratio of 27.80, a P/E/G ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 1.28.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results 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 39.11% and a return on equity of 38.69%. The company had revenue of $42.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $41.45 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $4.71 EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 16.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect 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 was paid on Thursday, June 26th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 16th were issued a $0.525 dividend. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.29%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 16th. Meta Platforms's dividend payout ratio is currently 8.19%.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 519 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $716.10, for a total value of $371,655.90. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 26,069 shares in the company, valued at $18,668,010.90. This trade represents a 1.95% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 2,361 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $716.48, for a total transaction of $1,691,609.28. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 153,473 shares of company stock valued at $105,805,440 over the last 90 days. 13.61% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.