Select Asset Management & Trust Reduces Holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Select Asset Management & Trust reduced its stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 6.7% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 1,397 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 100 shares during the period. Select Asset Management & Trust’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $818,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Millstone Evans Group LLC purchased a new position in Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter valued at about $40,000. Avondale Wealth Management purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $41,000. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter worth approximately $43,000. Cordant Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter worth approximately $59,000. Finally, Conquis Financial LLC purchased a new position in Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter valued at $59,000. 79.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Scotiabank raised their price target on Meta Platforms from $583.00 to $627.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed an “underperform” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Monday, January 27th. Barclays increased their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $630.00 to $705.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Robert W. Baird increased their target price on Meta Platforms from $680.00 to $750.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Piper Sandler lowered their price target on Meta Platforms from $775.00 to $610.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 10th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, thirty-five have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $684.10.

Meta Platforms Trading Down 0.2 %

Meta Platforms stock opened at $501.48 on Monday. 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 firm’s 50 day moving average price is $608.14 and its 200-day moving average price is $607.21. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1 year low of $414.50 and a 1 year high of $740.91. The stock has a market cap of $1.27 trillion, a P/E ratio of 20.96, a PEG ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.28.

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

Meta Platforms Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th were given a dividend of $0.525 per share. This is an increase from Meta Platforms’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.42%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is currently 8.78%.

Insider Activity at Meta Platforms

In related news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 55,589 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $717.72, for a total transaction of $39,897,337.08. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 4,706 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Saturday, February 15th. The stock was 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. The trade was a 18.35 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 379,901 shares of company stock valued at $260,806,516. 13.71% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Meta Platforms 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.