ST Germain D J Co. Inc. Sells 1,845 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

ST Germain D J Co. Inc. reduced its position in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 1.9% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 94,718 shares of the social networking company's stock after selling 1,845 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms accounts for about 2.6% of ST Germain D J Co. Inc.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 6th biggest holding. ST Germain D J Co. Inc.'s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $54,592,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Valley Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 2.4% in the fourth quarter. Valley Financial Group Inc. now owns 588 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $344,000 after purchasing an additional 14 shares in the last quarter. Lantern Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Lantern Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,976 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $1,743,000 after purchasing an additional 14 shares in the last quarter. Seelaus Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Seelaus Asset Management LLC now owns 1,640 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $960,000 after purchasing an additional 15 shares in the last quarter. Meredith Wealth Planning boosted its holdings in 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Maiden Cove Capital LLC boosted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 3.2% in the fourth 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. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

Shares of META stock traded up $21.10 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $687.95. The stock had a trading volume of 14,007,287 shares, compared to its average volume of 14,486,789. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12-month low of $442.65 and a 12-month high of $740.91. The company has a market cap of $1.73 trillion, a P/E ratio of 28.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.24. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $581.05 and a 200 day simple moving average of $612.48. The company has a current ratio of 2.98, a quick ratio of 2.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last posted 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. The business had revenue of $42.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $41.45 billion. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 38.17% and a net margin of 37.91%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 16.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $4.71 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 26th. Investors of record on Monday, June 16th will be paid a dividend of $0.525 per share. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.31%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 16th. Meta Platforms's payout ratio is currently 8.19%.

Insider Activity at Meta Platforms

In related news, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 22,449 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, May 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $636.85, for a total transaction of $14,296,645.65. Following the sale, the chief technology officer now owns 1,183 shares of the company's stock, valued at $753,393.55. This trade represents a 94.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 517 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $635.41, for a total value of $328,506.97. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 10,438 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,632,409.58. The trade was a 4.72% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 55,135 shares of company stock valued at $34,481,779 over the last quarter. Insiders own 13.61% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on META. Monness Crespi & Hardt upped their price target on Meta Platforms from $775.00 to $780.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Loop Capital increased their price objective on Meta Platforms from $695.00 to $888.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, May 16th. Oppenheimer lifted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $650.00 to $665.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a 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 research note on Monday, April 21st. Finally, TD Securities dropped their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $725.00 to $700.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. 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 given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $702.48.

About Meta Platforms

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.