Secure Asset Management LLC Sells 14,447 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Secure Asset Management LLC reduced its stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 74.1% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 5,044 shares of the social networking company's stock after selling 14,447 shares during the period. Secure Asset Management LLC's holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $2,907,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in META. Fjell Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter valued at $1,836,000. Opulen Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter valued at $325,000. Daner Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter worth $334,000. Appleton Partners Inc. MA raised its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 3.7% in the 4th quarter. Appleton Partners Inc. MA now owns 26,312 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $15,406,000 after purchasing an additional 951 shares during the period. Finally, Brighton Jones LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 34,551 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $20,230,000 after buying an additional 570 shares in the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

NASDAQ:META traded down $3.33 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $684.62. 13,062,206 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 14,510,834. The firm has a market cap of $1.72 trillion, a P/E ratio of 28.62, a P/E/G ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.24. The company has a quick ratio of 2.98, a current ratio of 2.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $583.27 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $613.00. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 52 week low of $442.65 and a 52 week high of $740.91.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The social networking company reported $6.43 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 net margin of 37.91% and a return on equity of 38.17%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 16.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $4.71 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 26th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 16th will be paid a dividend of $0.525 per share. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.31%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 16th. Meta Platforms's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 8.19%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

META has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Loop Capital upped their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $695.00 to $888.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, May 16th. 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 research report on Thursday, May 1st. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price objective on Meta Platforms from $725.00 to $600.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 7th. DA Davidson cut their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $800.00 to $650.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Finally, Pivotal Research decreased their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $875.00 to $830.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, thirty-seven have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $702.48.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Meta Platforms news, CFO Susan J. Li sold 6,874 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $659.36, for a total value of $4,532,440.64. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 70,040 shares in the company, valued at approximately $46,181,574.40. This represents a 8.94% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 608 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $609.00, for a total transaction of $370,272.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 8,054 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,904,886. The trade was a 7.02% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 55,652 shares of company stock valued at $34,815,208 over the last three months. Insiders own 13.61% of the company's stock.

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.