Patton Fund Management Inc. Has $3.51 Million Position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Patton Fund Management Inc. trimmed its stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 22.7% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 6,088 shares of the social networking company's stock after selling 1,790 shares during the quarter. Patton Fund Management Inc.'s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $3,509,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Millstone Evans Group LLC purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter worth approximately $40,000. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter worth $43,000. Marshall & Sterling Wealth Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter worth $45,000. Stuart Chaussee & Associates Inc. acquired a new stake in Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter valued at $47,000. Finally, Principia Wealth Advisory LLC grew its stake in Meta Platforms by 53.6% in the first quarter. Principia Wealth Advisory LLC now owns 86 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $50,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares in the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

META has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on Meta Platforms from $615.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Citigroup reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday, June 12th. DA Davidson decreased their target price 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. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $628.00 to $655.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reduced 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 note on Monday, April 7th. One 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 stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $710.00.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

NASDAQ:META traded down $1.46 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $695.77. The company's stock had a trading volume of 9,635,650 shares, compared to its average volume of 14,501,973. The company has a market capitalization of $1.75 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.14, a P/E/G ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 1.26. The company has a current ratio of 2.66, a quick ratio of 2.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $442.65 and a fifty-two week high of $740.91. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $612.33 and a 200-day moving average of $621.89.

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 analysts' consensus estimates of $5.33 by $1.10. The business had revenue of $42.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $41.45 billion. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 38.69% and a net margin of 39.11%. Meta Platforms's quarterly revenue was up 16.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $4.71 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Activity

In other news, COO Javier Olivan sold 608 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $614.97, for a total value of $373,901.76. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 6,838 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,205,164.86. The trade was a 8.17% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 921 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $627.05, for a total value of $577,513.05. Following the sale, the insider now owns 31,182 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,552,673.10. This trade represents a 2.87% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 110,512 shares of company stock worth $73,590,232. Corporate insiders own 13.61% of the company's stock.

Meta Platforms 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.