Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) Shares Sold by Abacus Planning Group Inc.

Abacus Planning Group Inc. lowered its holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 3.8% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,865 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 153 shares during the period. Abacus Planning Group Inc.’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $2,228,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Suvretta Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.1% during the 4th quarter. Suvretta Capital Management LLC now owns 170,338 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $99,735,000 after buying an additional 1,850 shares during the last quarter. Skye Global Management LP grew its position in Meta Platforms by 130.9% during the fourth quarter. Skye Global Management LP now owns 76,200 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $44,616,000 after acquiring an additional 43,200 shares during the period. Brueske Advisory Services LLC acquired a new stake in Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter worth about $459,000. Apollon Financial LLC raised its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 11.1% in the 4th quarter. Apollon Financial LLC now owns 1,479 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $866,000 after purchasing an additional 148 shares during the period. Finally, Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 255.9% in the 4th quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC now owns 1,709,694 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $1,001,044,000 after purchasing an additional 1,229,350 shares in the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In related news, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 22,449 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction on Friday, May 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $636.85, for a total transaction of $14,296,645.65. Following the completion of the sale, the chief technology officer now owns 1,183 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $753,393.55. This trade represents a 94.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 921 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $595.00, for a total value of $547,995.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 33,024 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $19,649,280. This trade represents a 2.71% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 55,563 shares of company stock worth $34,793,185. 13.61% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Wedbush increased their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $680.00 to $750.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Raymond James dropped their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $800.00 to $750.00 and set a “strong-buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Bank of America lifted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $640.00 to $690.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Monness Crespi & Hardt upped their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $775.00 to $780.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $740.00 price objective on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, thirty-seven have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $702.48.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ META opened at $697.71 on Monday. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12-month low of $442.65 and a 12-month high of $740.91. The company has a market cap of $1.75 trillion, a PE ratio of 29.17, a P/E/G ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.26. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $587.67 and a 200-day simple moving average of $615.55. The company has a current ratio of 2.98, a quick ratio of 2.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The social networking company reported $6.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.33 by $1.10. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 38.17% and a net margin of 37.91%. The company had revenue of $42.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $41.45 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $4.71 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 16.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The firm 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 0.30%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.