Strategic Planning Group LLC Decreases Holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Strategic Planning Group LLC decreased its position in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 10.4% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 14,757 shares of the social networking company's stock after selling 1,708 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms makes up approximately 1.7% of Strategic Planning Group LLC's holdings, making the stock its 17th largest holding. Strategic Planning Group LLC's holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $8,506,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Millstone Evans Group LLC bought a new position in Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter worth approximately $40,000. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter worth $43,000. Marshall & Sterling Wealth Advisors Inc. bought a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter valued at about $45,000. Stuart Chaussee & Associates Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter worth approximately $47,000. Finally, Conquis Financial LLC acquired a new position in Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter worth $59,000. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

META has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Roth Capital lifted their target price on Meta Platforms from $580.00 to $620.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. TD Securities cut their price target on Meta Platforms from $725.00 to $700.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Tigress Financial reiterated a "strong-buy" rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. Bank of America lifted their price target on Meta Platforms from $640.00 to $690.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Monness Crespi & Hardt lifted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $775.00 to $780.00 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 assigned a hold rating, thirty-seven have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Meta Platforms currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $702.48.

Meta Platforms Trading Down 0.5%

Shares of NASDAQ:META traded down $3.33 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $684.62. The company's stock had a trading volume of 13,062,206 shares, compared to its average volume of 14,510,799. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $442.65 and a fifty-two week high of $740.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 2.98 and a current ratio of 2.98. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $583.27 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $613.00. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.72 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.62, a PEG ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.24.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The social networking company reported $6.43 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $5.33 by $1.10. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 38.17% and a net margin of 37.91%. The business had revenue of $42.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $41.45 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $4.71 EPS. The firm's revenue was up 16.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The business 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. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 16th. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.31%. Meta Platforms's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 8.19%.

Insider Activity

In other Meta Platforms news, CFO Susan J. Li sold 6,874 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 70,040 shares of the company's stock, 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 SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 5,057 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $659.36, for a total transaction of $3,334,383.52. Following the completion of the sale, the chief technology officer now owns 16,463 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $10,855,043.68. This trade represents a 23.50% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 55,652 shares of company stock worth $34,815,208 over the last 90 days. 13.61% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.