Beacon Pointe Advisors LLC Decreases Stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Beacon Pointe Advisors LLC cut its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 5.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 127,005 shares of the social networking company's stock after selling 7,643 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms makes up approximately 0.8% of Beacon Pointe Advisors LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 23rd largest holding. Beacon Pointe Advisors LLC's holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $74,363,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Millstone Evans Group LLC purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $40,000. Avondale Wealth Management bought a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter worth $41,000. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter worth $43,000. Marshall & Sterling Wealth Advisors Inc. bought a new position in Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter valued at $45,000. Finally, Cordant Inc. purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter valued at about $59,000. Institutional investors own 79.91% of the company's stock.

Meta Platforms Trading Up 2.6 %

Shares of NASDAQ:META opened at $547.27 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $1.39 trillion, a PE ratio of 22.88, a price-to-earnings-growth 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 stock has a 50 day moving average of $587.00 and a 200 day moving average of $604.68. 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 - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The social networking company reported $8.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $6.75 by $1.27. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 37.91% and a return on equity of 38.17%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $5.33 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th were issued a $0.525 dividend. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.38%. This is a boost from Meta Platforms's previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. Meta Platforms's payout ratio is 8.78%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 921 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $491.87, for a total value of $453,012.27. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 27,498 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,525,441.26. This trade represents a 3.24 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 406 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $491.69, for a total value of $199,626.14. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 4,608 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,265,707.52. This trade represents a 8.10 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 285,289 shares of company stock worth $200,201,352. Corporate insiders own 13.71% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently commented on META shares. Bank of America reduced their price objective on Meta Platforms from $765.00 to $640.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. Susquehanna upped their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $675.00 to $800.00 and gave the company a "positive" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on Meta Platforms from $700.00 to $800.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Arete Research raised Meta Platforms to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Scotiabank dropped their price objective on Meta Platforms from $627.00 to $525.00 and set a "sector perform" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 21st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, thirty-five have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $679.02.

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.