Connors Investor Services Inc. Has $18.04 Million Holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Connors Investor Services Inc. decreased its holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 2.1% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 30,802 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 674 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms makes up about 1.7% of Connors Investor Services Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 14th largest position. Connors Investor Services Inc.’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $18,035,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Millstone Evans Group LLC acquired a new position in Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter valued at about $40,000. Avondale Wealth Management acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter worth about $41,000. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $43,000. Marshall & Sterling Wealth Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter worth approximately $45,000. Finally, Cordant Inc. bought a new position in Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $59,000. Institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on META shares. Cantor Fitzgerald dropped their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $790.00 to $624.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. Barclays boosted their price target on Meta Platforms from $630.00 to $705.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Citigroup reduced their price target on Meta Platforms from $780.00 to $655.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Piper Sandler decreased their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $775.00 to $610.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 10th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus dropped their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $740.00 to $628.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, thirty-five have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $681.95.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

Shares of META stock opened at $554.44 on Wednesday. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $581.11 and its 200 day moving average is $604.05. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.40 trillion, a P/E ratio of 23.18, a PEG ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.28. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12 month low of $427.11 and a 12 month high of $740.91. 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 issued its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The social networking company reported $8.02 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $6.75 by $1.27. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 38.17% and a net margin of 37.91%. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $5.33 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th were paid a $0.525 dividend. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.38%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. This is a boost from Meta Platforms’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is currently 8.78%.

Insider Transactions at Meta Platforms

In other Meta Platforms news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 12,975 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $696.39, for a total value of $9,035,660.25. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 210,971 shares in the company, valued at approximately $146,918,094.69. The trade was a 5.79 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 921 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $491.87, for a total transaction of $453,012.27. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 27,498 shares in the company, valued at $13,525,441.26. This represents a 3.24 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 248,463 shares of company stock valued at $175,403,314 in the last quarter. Insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

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.