Sentinel Trust Co. LBA Lowers Holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Sentinel Trust Co. LBA decreased its position in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 7.4% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 9,384 shares of the social networking company's stock after selling 747 shares during the period. Meta Platforms comprises about 0.6% of Sentinel Trust Co. LBA's holdings, making the stock its 29th largest holding. Sentinel Trust Co. LBA's holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $5,409,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.7% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 34,551 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $20,230,000 after purchasing an additional 570 shares in the last quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 10.2% in the 4th quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 9,456 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $5,537,000 after purchasing an additional 875 shares in the last quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG boosted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 3.5% in the 4th quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG now owns 221,459 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $129,666,000 after purchasing an additional 7,587 shares in the last quarter. Highview Capital Management LLC DE boosted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 3.7% in the 4th quarter. Highview Capital Management LLC DE now owns 6,189 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $3,624,000 after purchasing an additional 218 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter worth approximately $2,243,603,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.91% of the company's stock.

Meta Platforms Trading Up 0.4%

Shares of NASDAQ:META traded up $2.87 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $704.28. 12,726,009 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 14,359,025. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1 year low of $442.65 and a 1 year high of $747.90. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $683.85 and a 200-day moving average price of $637.15. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.77 trillion, a P/E ratio of 27.47, 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 current ratio of 2.66 and a quick ratio of 2.66.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The social networking company reported $6.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 business had revenue of $42.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $41.45 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $4.71 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 16.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently issued reports on META. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price objective on Meta Platforms from $725.00 to $600.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 7th. Bank of America upped their price objective on Meta Platforms from $690.00 to $765.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 10th. Citigroup reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Tuesday. Scotiabank lowered their price target on Meta Platforms from $627.00 to $525.00 and set a "sector perform" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 21st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Meta Platforms from $735.00 to $795.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, July 11th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty-eight have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $736.05.

Insider Buying and Selling at Meta Platforms

In related news, CFO Susan J. Li sold 6,874 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $659.36, for a total value of $4,532,440.64. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 70,040 shares in the company, valued at approximately $46,181,574.40. The trade was a 8.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 22,449 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $636.85, for a total value of $14,296,645.65. Following the completion of the sale, the chief technology officer owned 1,183 shares of the company's stock, valued at $753,393.55. The trade was a 94.99% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 153,764 shares of company stock worth $105,721,208 over the last 90 days. Company 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.