EP Wealth Advisors LLC reduced its stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 5.1% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 189,774 shares of the social networking company's stock after selling 10,232 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms accounts for 0.9% of EP Wealth Advisors LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 26th largest position. EP Wealth Advisors LLC's holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $111,114,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.
Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Millstone Evans Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter worth $40,000. Avondale Wealth Management purchased a new position in Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter worth approximately $41,000. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter valued at $43,000. Marshall & Sterling Wealth Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter worth $45,000. Finally, Cordant Inc. purchased a new position in Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter valued at $59,000. 79.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.
Insider Activity at Meta Platforms
In related news, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 5,060 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Saturday, February 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $736.67, for a total transaction of $3,727,550.20. Following the transaction, the chief technology officer now directly owns 5,139 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,785,747.13. The trade was a 49.61 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 55,589 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $717.72, for a total transaction of $39,897,337.08. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 209,749 shares of company stock worth $148,089,532. Corporate insiders own 13.71% of the company's stock.
Meta Platforms Stock Down 2.0 %
META opened at $587.31 on Wednesday. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12 month low of $442.65 and a 12 month 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 business has a 50-day moving average of $572.38 and a two-hundred day moving average of $604.03. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.49 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.55, a price-to-earnings-growth 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 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $5.33 by $1.10. The firm had revenue of $42.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $41.45 billion. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 38.17% and a net margin of 37.91%. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $4.71 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 16.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current year.
Meta Platforms Increases Dividend
The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th were issued a dividend of $0.525 per share. This is a positive change from Meta Platforms's previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.36%. Meta Platforms's payout ratio is presently 8.19%.
Wall Street Analyst Weigh In
A number of research analysts have recently commented on the company. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price objective on Meta Platforms from $725.00 to $600.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 7th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an "outperform" rating and set a $740.00 price target on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $615.00 to $650.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Tigress Financial restated a "strong-buy" rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Finally, Truist Financial increased their price objective on Meta Platforms from $700.00 to $720.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, thirty-seven have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Meta Platforms currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $696.45.
Read Our Latest Research Report on Meta Platforms
Meta Platforms Company Profile
(
Free Report)
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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