Letko Brosseau & Associates Inc. Sells 6,449 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Letko Brosseau & Associates Inc. lowered its stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 2.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 302,196 shares of the social networking company's stock after selling 6,449 shares during the period. Meta Platforms makes up approximately 3.4% of Letko Brosseau & Associates Inc.'s portfolio, making the stock its 6th biggest holding. Letko Brosseau & Associates Inc.'s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $176,939,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Barclays decreased their price target 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. Guggenheim boosted their price target on Meta Platforms from $675.00 to $725.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Cantor Fitzgerald raised their price objective on Meta Platforms from $624.00 to $676.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Tigress Financial reiterated a "strong-buy" rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Finally, 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 report on Thursday, May 1st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, thirty-seven have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $696.45.

Insider Buying and Selling at Meta Platforms

In other Meta Platforms news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 19,668 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $721.69, for a total value of $14,194,198.92. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 4,706 shares of the stock in a transaction on Saturday, February 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $736.67, for a total transaction of $3,466,769.02. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 20,935 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $15,422,186.45. This trade represents a 18.35% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 119,894 shares of company stock worth $83,475,065 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 13.71% of the company's stock.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

Shares of META opened at $592.49 on Monday. The business's 50-day moving average is $568.87 and its 200-day moving average is $604.75. 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 has a market capitalization of $1.50 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.77, a P/E/G ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.24. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $442.65 and a fifty-two week high of $740.91.

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

Meta Platforms Increases Dividend

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

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.

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