Bond & Devick Financial Network Inc. Sells 80 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Bond & Devick Financial Network Inc. cut its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 13.0% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 535 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 80 shares during the period. Bond & Devick Financial Network Inc.’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $308,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Millstone Evans Group LLC purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $40,000. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $43,000. Marshall & Sterling Wealth Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $45,000. Stuart Chaussee & Associates Inc. purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $47,000. Finally, Conquis Financial LLC purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $59,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Stock Down 0.4%

Shares of NASDAQ META opened at $642.23 on Friday. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $578.56 and its 200-day simple moving average is $611.04. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 52-week low of $442.65 and a 52-week high of $740.91. The firm has a market cap of $1.61 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.85, a price-to-earnings-growth 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 announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The social networking company reported $6.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.33 by $1.10. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 37.91% and a return on equity of 38.17%. The business had revenue of $42.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $41.45 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $4.71 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 26th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 16th will be given a $0.525 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 16th. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.33%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 8.19%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

META has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $725.00 to $600.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $610.00 to $675.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Citigroup raised their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $655.00 to $690.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $615.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Bank of America raised their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $640.00 to $690.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, thirty-seven have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $701.05.

Insider Activity

In other news, COO Javier Olivan sold 608 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $673.96, for a total value of $409,767.68. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 8,662 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,837,841.52. This trade represents a 6.56% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 5,057 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $659.36, for a total transaction of $3,334,383.52. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief technology officer now directly owns 16,463 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,855,043.68. This represents a 23.50% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 56,664 shares of company stock worth $35,484,670 over the last 90 days. 13.61% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.