Strong Tower Advisory Services Decreases Stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Strong Tower Advisory Services cut its position in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 49.0% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 471 shares of the social networking company's stock after selling 453 shares during the period. Strong Tower Advisory Services' holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $271,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in META. Millstone Evans Group LLC purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter valued at about $40,000. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter valued at about $43,000. Marshall & Sterling Wealth Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter valued at about $45,000. Stuart Chaussee & Associates Inc. purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter valued at about $47,000. Finally, Conquis Financial LLC purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter valued at about $59,000. 79.91% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have issued reports on META. Needham & Company LLC reissued an "underperform" rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $752.00 to $664.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Rosenblatt Securities boosted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $846.00 to $918.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Roth Capital boosted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $580.00 to $620.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Barclays reduced their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $705.00 to $640.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 1st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, thirty-seven have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $702.48.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 519 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $635.41, for a total value of $329,777.79. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 30,221 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $19,202,725.61. This trade represents a 1.69% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 608 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $609.00, for a total transaction of $370,272.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 8,054 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,904,886. The trade was a 7.02% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 55,652 shares of company stock worth $34,815,208 over the last three months. Insiders own 13.61% of the company's stock.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

NASDAQ:META traded up $1.46 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $689.41. 5,382,290 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 14,481,616. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.73 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.82, a PEG ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.24. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 52-week low of $442.65 and a 52-week high of $740.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 2.98 and a quick ratio of 2.98. The company's 50 day moving average price is $583.27 and its 200-day moving average price is $613.00.

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 (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $5.33 by $1.10. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 37.91% and a return on equity of 38.17%. The firm had revenue of $42.31 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $41.45 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $4.71 earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 16.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 26th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 16th will be given a $0.525 dividend. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.30%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 16th. Meta Platforms's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 8.19%.

Meta Platforms Company 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.