Baron Silver Stevens Financial Advisors LLC Has $1.55 Million Stock Position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Baron Silver Stevens Financial Advisors LLC reduced its stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 8.5% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,688 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 250 shares during the period. Baron Silver Stevens Financial Advisors LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $1,549,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Brown Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 90.6% in the 1st quarter. Brown Wealth Management LLC now owns 692 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $399,000 after purchasing an additional 329 shares during the last quarter. TD Asset Management Inc lifted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 1.0% during the first quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 3,655,188 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $2,106,704,000 after acquiring an additional 36,285 shares in the last quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 23.5% during the first quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC now owns 74,549 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $42,967,000 after acquiring an additional 14,172 shares in the last quarter. GLOBALT Investments LLC GA lifted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 3.1% during the first quarter. GLOBALT Investments LLC GA now owns 21,575 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $12,435,000 after acquiring an additional 656 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Angeles Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 1.7% during the first quarter. Angeles Wealth Management LLC now owns 9,501 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $5,476,000 after acquiring an additional 162 shares in the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Meta Platforms Trading Down 0.7%

Shares of NASDAQ:META opened at $695.21 on Thursday. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12-month low of $450.80 and a 12-month high of $747.90. The stock has a market cap of $1.75 trillion, a PE ratio of 27.11, a P/E/G ratio of 1.68 and a beta of 1.28. The business has a 50 day moving average of $696.48 and a 200-day moving average of $643.47. The company has a quick ratio of 2.66, a current ratio of 2.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 30th. The social networking company reported $7.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.75 by $1.39. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 38.69% and a net margin of 39.11%. The company had revenue of $47.52 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $44.55 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $5.16 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 21.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 26th. Investors of record on Monday, June 16th were paid a $0.525 dividend. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.30%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 16th. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 8.19%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have weighed in on META shares. Guggenheim reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $800.00 target price (up from $725.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Monday. Barclays reduced their target price on Meta Platforms from $705.00 to $640.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Meta Platforms from $664.00 to $783.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on Meta Platforms from $650.00 to $750.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, July 21st. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group boosted their price target on Meta Platforms from $825.00 to $850.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 16th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty-eight have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $754.07.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 2,361 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $716.48, for a total value of $1,691,609.28. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 519 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $716.10, for a total value of $371,655.90. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 26,069 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $18,668,010.90. This trade represents a 1.95% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 152,461 shares of company stock valued at $105,335,225. 13.61% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.