Partners Wealth Management LLC Lowers Position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Partners Wealth Management LLC decreased its stake in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 8.8% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 371 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 36 shares during the period. Partners Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $214,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 191,198,005 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $111,948,344,000 after buying an additional 1,502,553 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 2.1% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 49,181,127 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $28,719,970,000 after acquiring an additional 1,020,519 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its position in Meta Platforms by 2.5% in the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 42,317,434 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $24,777,282,000 after purchasing an additional 1,049,121 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors grew its stake in Meta Platforms by 2.9% in the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 40,317,105 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $23,606,338,000 after purchasing an additional 1,141,355 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new position in Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter valued at $19,949,512,000. Institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on META. Citigroup boosted 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. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $676.00 target price on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Wednesday, June 11th. Susquehanna decreased their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $800.00 to $700.00 and set a “positive” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. KeyCorp lifted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $645.00 to $655.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Barclays reduced their price objective on Meta Platforms from $705.00 to $640.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 1st. One 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 issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $704.26.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, COO Javier Olivan sold 608 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $488.18, for a total value of $296,813.44. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 5,622 shares in the company, valued at $2,744,547.96. The trade was a 9.76% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 921 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $600.25, for a total value of $552,830.25. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 32,103 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $19,269,825.75. This represents a 2.79% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 85,593 shares of company stock worth $56,008,477. Corporate insiders own 13.61% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

NASDAQ:META opened at $682.87 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $1.72 trillion, a P/E ratio of 28.55, a PEG ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.26. The company has a quick ratio of 2.98, a current ratio of 2.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $604.07 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $619.96. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a twelve month low of $442.65 and a twelve month high of $740.91.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The social networking company reported $6.43 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 the consensus estimate of $41.45 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $4.71 earnings per share. Meta Platforms’s quarterly revenue was up 16.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, 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 disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 26th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 16th will be issued a dividend of $0.525 per share. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.31%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 16th. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is currently 8.19%.

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.