Conrad Siegel Investment Advisors Inc. Trims Stock Holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Conrad Siegel Investment Advisors Inc. decreased its holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 15.4% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,468 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 267 shares during the period. Meta Platforms accounts for about 0.2% of Conrad Siegel Investment Advisors Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 28th biggest position. Conrad Siegel Investment Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $846,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of META. Millstone Evans Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $40,000. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $43,000. Marshall & Sterling Wealth Advisors Inc. bought a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $45,000. Stuart Chaussee & Associates Inc. bought a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $47,000. Finally, Conquis Financial LLC bought a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in 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 has a quick ratio of 2.98, a current ratio of 2.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 52 week low of $442.65 and a 52 week high of $740.91. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $578.56 and its 200 day moving average is $611.04. The company has a market cap of $1.61 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.85, a PEG ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.24.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The social networking company reported $6.43 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 company had revenue of $42.31 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $41.45 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $4.71 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently commented on META. Monness Crespi & Hardt raised their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $775.00 to $780.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $628.00 to $655.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Oppenheimer lifted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $650.00 to $665.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Rosenblatt Securities lifted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $846.00 to $918.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Wedbush lifted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $680.00 to $750.00 and gave the company an “outperform” 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 given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $701.05.

Insider Buying and Selling at Meta Platforms

In other Meta Platforms news, COO Javier Olivan sold 517 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $635.41, for a total transaction of $328,506.97. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 10,438 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,632,409.58. The trade was a 4.72% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Susan J. Li sold 6,874 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $659.36, for a total transaction of $4,532,440.64. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 70,040 shares in the company, valued at approximately $46,181,574.40. The trade was a 8.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 56,664 shares of company stock valued at $35,484,670. 13.61% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.