Grace & Mercy Foundation Inc. Has $61.90 Million Stock Position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Grace & Mercy Foundation Inc. trimmed its position in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 8.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 105,725 shares of the social networking company's stock after selling 9,700 shares during the period. Meta Platforms comprises 13.9% of Grace & Mercy Foundation Inc.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 3rd largest position. Grace & Mercy Foundation Inc.'s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $61,903,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of META. Millstone Evans Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter worth approximately $40,000. Avondale Wealth Management bought a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter worth approximately $41,000. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter valued at about $43,000. Marshall & Sterling Wealth Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter valued at about $45,000. Finally, Cordant Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter valued at about $59,000. 79.91% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Meta Platforms

In other Meta Platforms news, COO Javier Olivan sold 608 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $592.00, for a total value of $359,936.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 3,190 shares in the company, valued at $1,888,480. This represents a 16.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 902 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $713.32, for a total value of $643,414.64. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 27,488 shares in the company, valued at $19,607,740.16. This represents a 3.18% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 155,689 shares of company stock worth $109,097,842 in the last 90 days. 13.71% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Meta Platforms Stock Down 0.9%

META stock traded down $5.52 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $592.49. 10,401,916 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 14,465,666. The company has a current ratio of 2.98, a quick ratio of 2.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12-month low of $442.65 and a 12-month high of $740.91. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $568.87 and a 200-day moving average price of $604.75. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.50 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.77, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.24.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last announced 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. The firm had revenue of $42.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $41.45 billion. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 38.17% and a net margin of 37.91%. Meta Platforms's quarterly revenue was up 16.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $4.71 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th were given a dividend of $0.525 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.35%. This is a positive change from Meta Platforms's previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. Meta Platforms's payout ratio is currently 8.19%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on META. Arete Research raised shares of Meta Platforms to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Moffett Nathanson lifted their price target on Meta Platforms from $525.00 to $605.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. KeyCorp lifted their price target on Meta Platforms from $645.00 to $655.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Monness Crespi & Hardt boosted their target price on Meta Platforms from $775.00 to $780.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Tigress Financial reissued a "strong-buy" rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, thirty-seven have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $696.45.

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.