Cascade Investment Advisors Inc. Sells 996 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Cascade Investment Advisors Inc. trimmed its position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 23.0% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,326 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 996 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms accounts for approximately 1.3% of Cascade Investment Advisors Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 25th biggest holding. Cascade Investment Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $1,917,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter worth about $19,949,512,000. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in Meta Platforms by 67,172.9% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 23,452,665 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $13,517,178,000 after purchasing an additional 23,417,803 shares during the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC raised its position in 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 purchasing an additional 6,240,810 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter worth approximately $2,243,603,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp lifted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 13.5% in 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 buying an additional 2,787,832 shares during the period. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

META has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Cantor Fitzgerald raised their price target on Meta Platforms from $624.00 to $676.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $685.00 to $690.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Scotiabank cut their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $627.00 to $525.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 21st. Moffett Nathanson increased their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $525.00 to $605.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $628.00 to $655.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, thirty-seven have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $701.05.

Insider Transactions at Meta Platforms

In related news, COO Javier Olivan sold 608 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $673.96, for a total transaction of $409,767.68. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 8,662 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,837,841.52. The trade was a 6.56% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Robert M. Kimmitt sold 475 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $628.25, for a total transaction of $298,418.75. Following the sale, the director now owns 10,272 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,453,384. The trade was a 4.42% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 56,664 shares of company stock worth $35,484,670 in the last 90 days. 13.61% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ META opened at $642.23 on Friday. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $578.56 and its 200-day moving average price is $611.04. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 52-week low of $442.65 and a 52-week high of $740.91. The company has a market cap of $1.61 trillion, a PE ratio of 26.85, a PEG ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.24. The company has a quick ratio of 2.98, a current ratio of 2.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last released its quarterly earnings results 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 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%. The company’s revenue was up 16.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $4.71 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 26th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 16th will be issued 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 0.33%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is currently 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.