Olstein Capital Management L.P. Sells 600 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Olstein Capital Management L.P. trimmed its stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 13.0% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 4,000 shares of the social networking company's stock after selling 600 shares during the period. Olstein Capital Management L.P.'s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $2,305,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in META. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter valued at about $19,949,512,000. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 67,172.9% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 23,452,665 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $13,517,178,000 after purchasing an additional 23,417,803 shares during the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 78,471.1% during the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 6,248,763 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $3,658,713,000 after purchasing an additional 6,240,810 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $2,243,603,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp grew its holdings in Meta Platforms by 13.5% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 23,445,565 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $13,727,613,000 after buying an additional 2,787,832 shares during the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Meta Platforms Trading Up 1.2%

Shares of Meta Platforms stock traded up $8.34 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $702.40. 10,818,910 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 14,509,547. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $589.87 and a 200-day moving average price of $616.49. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.77 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.36, a P/E/G ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.26. The company has a quick ratio of 2.98, a current ratio of 2.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a twelve month low of $442.65 and a twelve month high of $740.91.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last posted 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. The company had revenue of $42.31 billion during 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 company's revenue for the quarter was up 16.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $4.71 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 26th. Investors of record on Monday, June 16th will be issued a dividend of $0.525 per share. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.30%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 16th. Meta Platforms's dividend payout ratio is currently 8.19%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Meta Platforms

In other news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 921 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $491.87, for a total transaction of $453,012.27. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 27,498 shares in the company, valued at $13,525,441.26. The trade was a 3.24% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 608 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $607.50, for a total value of $369,360.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 7,446 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,523,445. This represents a 7.55% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 56,104 shares of company stock valued at $35,270,242. Corporate insiders own 13.61% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently commented on META. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on Meta Platforms from $752.00 to $664.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $628.00 to $655.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Raymond James reduced their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $800.00 to $750.00 and set a "strong-buy" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Oppenheimer boosted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $650.00 to $665.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Bank of America upped their price target on Meta Platforms from $640.00 to $690.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, thirty-seven have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $702.48.

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.