Trust Point Inc. Decreases Stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Trust Point Inc. reduced its position in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 28.6% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 8,747 shares of the social networking company's stock after selling 3,503 shares during the period. Meta Platforms makes up approximately 0.5% of Trust Point Inc.'s portfolio, making the stock its 29th largest position. Trust Point Inc.'s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $5,041,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in META. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter worth about $19,949,512,000. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings in Meta Platforms by 67,172.9% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 23,452,665 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $13,517,178,000 after buying an additional 23,417,803 shares in the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 78,471.1% during the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 6,248,763 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $3,658,713,000 after acquiring an additional 6,240,810 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter worth approximately $2,243,603,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp boosted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 13.5% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 23,445,565 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $13,727,613,000 after acquiring an additional 2,787,832 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.91% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, COO Javier Olivan sold 608 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $614.97, for a total transaction of $373,901.76. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 6,838 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,205,164.86. The trade was a 8.17% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 22,449 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $636.85, for a total value of $14,296,645.65. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief technology officer now owns 1,183 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $753,393.55. This represents a 94.99% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 110,512 shares of company stock worth $73,590,232 over the last ninety days. 13.61% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Meta Platforms Trading Down 1.9%

META stock traded down $13.42 during trading on Friday, reaching $682.35. 20,871,056 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 14,532,565. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.72 trillion, a PE ratio of 26.61, a P/E/G ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 1.26. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 2.66 and a quick ratio of 2.66. The business's 50 day moving average price is $615.32 and its 200-day moving average price is $622.60. 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 data on Wednesday, April 30th. The social networking company reported $6.43 earnings per share 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 for 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 company's revenue was up 16.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side 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 declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 26th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 16th will be given a dividend of $0.525 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend 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 8.19%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the company. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on Meta Platforms from $725.00 to $750.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Pivotal Research lowered their target price on Meta Platforms from $875.00 to $830.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Scotiabank dropped their price target on Meta Platforms from $627.00 to $525.00 and set a "sector perform" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 21st. Rosenblatt Securities boosted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $846.00 to $918.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Barclays lowered their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $705.00 to $640.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock 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 given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $710.00.

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.