Beck Capital Management LLC Cuts Position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Beck Capital Management LLC reduced its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 11.6% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 24,032 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 3,159 shares during the period. Meta Platforms makes up approximately 3.7% of Beck Capital Management LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 2nd largest position. Beck Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $14,071,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Millstone Evans Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter worth about $40,000. Avondale Wealth Management acquired a new position in Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $41,000. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $43,000. Cordant Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter worth approximately $59,000. Finally, Conquis Financial LLC bought a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter worth approximately $59,000. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

Shares of Meta Platforms stock opened at $500.28 on Wednesday. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $598.76 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $605.69. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.27 trillion, a P/E ratio of 20.91, a P/E/G ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 2.98 and a quick ratio of 2.98. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $414.50 and a fifty-two week high of $740.91.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The social networking company reported $8.02 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.75 by $1.27. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 38.17% and a net margin of 37.91%. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $5.33 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th were issued a $0.525 dividend. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.42%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. This is a positive change from Meta Platforms’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 8.78%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, COO Javier Olivan sold 608 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $488.18, for a total value of $296,813.44. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 5,622 shares in the company, valued at $2,744,547.96. This represents a 9.76 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 921 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $531.22, for a total transaction of $489,253.62. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 28,419 shares in the company, valued at $15,096,741.18. This trade represents a 3.14 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 342,662 shares of company stock worth $237,476,709 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently weighed in on META. Truist Financial decreased their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $770.00 to $700.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed an “underperform” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Monday, January 27th. Rosenblatt Securities reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $811.00 target price on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on Meta Platforms from $680.00 to $750.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on Meta Platforms from $530.00 to $610.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, thirty-five have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $681.67.

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.