Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC Trims Holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC lessened its stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 63.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 5,883 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 10,255 shares during the period. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $1,979,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC lifted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 23.3% during the third quarter. Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC now owns 11,151 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $3,348,000 after purchasing an additional 2,106 shares during the last quarter. Avion Wealth lifted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 17.7% during the 3rd quarter. Avion Wealth now owns 853 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $255,000 after buying an additional 128 shares during the last quarter. Lake Street Financial LLC grew its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 4.5% in the 3rd quarter. Lake Street Financial LLC now owns 19,830 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $6,028,000 after acquiring an additional 862 shares in the last quarter. Bill Few Associates Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $204,000. Finally, Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp increased its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 2.7% in the 3rd quarter. Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp now owns 13,708 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $4,115,000 after acquiring an additional 362 shares during the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

META has been the subject of several recent research reports. Canaccord Genuity Group boosted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $450.00 to $540.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $609.00 to $600.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Roth Mkm raised their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $500.00 to $510.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 25th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Meta Platforms from $375.00 to $550.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, February 2nd. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their price target on Meta Platforms from $540.00 to $500.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, thirty-seven have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $509.18.

Meta Platforms Stock Down 0.2 %

NASDAQ:META traded down $0.74 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $431.88. 10,935,485 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 18,335,898. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $493.66 and a 200 day moving average price of $406.15. The firm has a market cap of $1.10 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.08, a PEG ratio of 1.15 and a beta of 1.20. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $229.85 and a fifty-two week high of $531.49. The company has a current ratio of 2.68, a quick ratio of 2.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 24th. The social networking company reported $4.71 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.32 by $0.39. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 32.06% and a return on equity of 32.03%. The firm had revenue of $36.46 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $36.28 billion. Equities research analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 20.2 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 26th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 22nd were paid a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 21st. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.46%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 11.49%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 19,681 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $393.85, for a total transaction of $7,751,361.85. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other Meta Platforms news, CFO Susan J. Li sold 10,956 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $473.28, for a total transaction of $5,185,255.68. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 76,398 shares in the company, valued at $36,157,645.44. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 19,681 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $393.85, for a total transaction of $7,751,361.85. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 1,276,482 shares of company stock valued at $620,451,095 in the last three months. Insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

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.