Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) Shares Sold by Stanley Capital Management LLC

Stanley Capital Management LLC trimmed its holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 10.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 43,900 shares of the social networking company's stock after selling 5,000 shares during the period. Meta Platforms accounts for 5.0% of Stanley Capital Management LLC's holdings, making the stock its 3rd largest position. Stanley Capital Management LLC's holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $25,704,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in META. Millstone Evans Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $40,000. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $43,000. Marshall & Sterling Wealth Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $45,000. Stuart Chaussee & Associates Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $47,000. Finally, Cordant Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $59,000. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other news, COO Javier Olivan sold 608 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $736.07, for a total value of $447,530.56. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 9,878 shares in the company, valued at $7,270,899.46. This trade represents a 5.80% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 921 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $736.07, for a total transaction of $677,920.47. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 35,787 shares in the company, valued at approximately $26,341,737.09. The trade was a 2.51% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 62,852 shares of company stock worth $41,665,958 in the last three months. Company insiders own 13.71% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have commented on META shares. Roth Capital boosted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $580.00 to $620.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $725.00 to $600.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 7th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an "outperform" rating and set a $740.00 price objective on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. DA Davidson lowered their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $800.00 to $650.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Finally, Mizuho boosted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $675.00 to $750.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. One investment 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 given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $701.05.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

Shares of META opened at $640.34 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 2.98 and a quick ratio of 2.98. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $571.37 and a 200-day moving average of $606.82. The company has a market cap of $1.61 trillion, a PE ratio of 26.77, a P/E/G ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.24. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a one year low of $442.65 and a one year high of $740.91.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The social networking company reported $6.43 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.33 by $1.10. The company had revenue of $42.31 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $41.45 billion. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 38.17% and a net margin of 37.91%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 16.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $4.71 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.

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