Pointe Capital Management LLC Decreases Holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Pointe Capital Management LLC decreased its position in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 14.0% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 2,464 shares of the social networking company's stock after selling 400 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms accounts for about 0.8% of Pointe Capital Management LLC's holdings, making the stock its 24th biggest position. Pointe Capital Management LLC's holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $1,420,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Inlight Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Meta Platforms in the first quarter valued at about $25,000. Barnes Dennig Private Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the 1st quarter worth about $28,000. Millstone Evans Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $40,000. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $43,000. Finally, Marshall & Sterling Wealth Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter valued at $45,000. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently commented on META shares. TD Cowen boosted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $700.00 to $800.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. Canaccord Genuity Group lifted their target price on Meta Platforms from $825.00 to $850.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and set a $828.00 price objective (up previously from $807.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Wednesday. Barclays reduced their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $705.00 to $640.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Evercore ISI increased their price objective on Meta Platforms from $725.00 to $750.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty-eight have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $736.05.

Insider Activity

In related news, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 22,449 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, May 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $636.85, for a total transaction of $14,296,645.65. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief technology officer directly owned 1,183 shares in the company, valued at $753,393.55. This represents a 94.99% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CFO Susan J. Li sold 6,874 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $659.36, for a total transaction of $4,532,440.64. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 70,040 shares of the company's stock, valued at $46,181,574.40. The trade was a 8.94% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 153,764 shares of company stock valued at $105,721,208. Company insiders own 13.61% of the company's stock.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

NASDAQ META opened at $701.41 on Friday. The business's fifty day moving average is $683.85 and its 200 day moving average is $637.15. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $442.65 and a fifty-two week high of $747.90. The company has a market capitalization of $1.76 trillion, a PE ratio of 27.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 1.28. 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 (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The social networking company reported $6.43 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.33 by $1.10. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 38.69% and a net margin of 39.11%. The company had revenue of $42.31 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $41.45 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $4.71 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 16.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 26th. Investors of record on Monday, June 16th were paid a dividend of $0.525 per share. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.30%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 16th. Meta Platforms's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 8.19%.

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.

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