Goelzer Investment Management Inc. Reduces Stock Holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Goelzer Investment Management Inc. cut its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 0.5% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 9,590 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 51 shares during the quarter. Goelzer Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $5,615,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Inlight Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms during the 1st quarter worth approximately $25,000. Millstone Evans Group LLC purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter worth approximately $40,000. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $43,000. Marshall & Sterling Wealth Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $45,000. Finally, Stuart Chaussee & Associates Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $47,000. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have weighed in on the stock. TD Securities lowered their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $725.00 to $700.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Monness Crespi & Hardt boosted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $775.00 to $780.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Needham & Company LLC reiterated an “underperform” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Moffett Nathanson boosted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $525.00 to $605.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, KeyCorp boosted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $645.00 to $655.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, thirty-seven have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $712.69.

Insider Buying and Selling at Meta Platforms

In other Meta Platforms news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 13,793 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $710.24, for a total transaction of $9,796,340.32. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 57,533 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $40,862,237.92. The trade was a 19.34% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Susan J. Li sold 6,874 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $659.36, for a total value of $4,532,440.64. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 70,040 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $46,181,574.40. The trade was a 8.94% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 124,312 shares of company stock valued at $83,503,034 in the last 90 days. 13.61% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

NASDAQ META opened at $708.68 on Thursday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $629.38 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $624.96. The company has a current ratio of 2.66, a quick ratio of 2.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. The company has a market cap of $1.78 trillion, a PE ratio of 27.64, a PEG ratio of 1.75 and a beta of 1.26. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1 year low of $442.65 and a 1 year high of $740.91.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The social networking company reported $6.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.33 by $1.10. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 38.69% and a net margin of 39.11%. The firm had revenue of $42.31 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $41.45 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $4.71 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 26th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 16th will be paid a dividend of $0.525 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 16th. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.30%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 8.19%.

Meta Platforms 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.