Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) Stock Holdings Trimmed by Black Cypress Capital Management LLC

Black Cypress Capital Management LLC cut its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 17.7% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 13,360 shares of the social networking company's stock after selling 2,876 shares during the period. Meta Platforms makes up 6.8% of Black Cypress Capital Management LLC's holdings, making the stock its 5th biggest holding. Black Cypress Capital Management LLC's holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $7,822,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Howard Capital Management Group LLC grew its holdings in Meta Platforms by 17.9% during the third quarter. Howard Capital Management Group LLC now owns 1,652 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $946,000 after purchasing an additional 251 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 6.5% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 3,368,361 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $1,928,185,000 after purchasing an additional 204,412 shares during the period. SOA Wealth Advisors LLC. raised its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 9.1% in the 3rd quarter. SOA Wealth Advisors LLC. now owns 3,219 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $1,842,000 after acquiring an additional 269 shares in the last quarter. Aldebaran Financial Inc. grew its position in Meta Platforms by 10.2% in the third quarter. Aldebaran Financial Inc. now owns 2,853 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $1,633,000 after acquiring an additional 264 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Te Ahumairangi Investment Management Ltd increased its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 9.5% during the 3rd quarter. Te Ahumairangi Investment Management Ltd now owns 17,048 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $9,704,000 after purchasing an additional 1,480 shares during the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Meta Platforms Trading Down 2.5 %

Shares of META traded down $12.92 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $508.60. 8,855,122 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 14,762,234. The firm has a market cap of $1.29 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.26, a PEG ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.28. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12-month low of $414.50 and a 12-month high of $740.91. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $621.07 and its 200 day moving average price is $608.54. 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 announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The social networking company reported $8.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates 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 last year, the business earned $5.33 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th were paid a $0.525 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. This is a positive change from Meta Platforms's previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.41%. Meta Platforms's dividend payout ratio is 8.78%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Meta Platforms news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 35,921 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, January 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $613.85, for a total transaction of $22,050,105.85. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 608 shares of the business's stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 5,622 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,744,547.96. The trade was a 9.76 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 414,293 shares of company stock worth $282,029,046 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 13.71% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

META has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Needham & Company LLC reissued an "underperform" rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Monday, January 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $725.00 to $610.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. DA Davidson reduced their target price on Meta Platforms from $800.00 to $650.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Monday. Argus set a $775.00 target price on Meta Platforms in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, Arete Research raised Meta Platforms to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, thirty-five have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $690.79.

About Meta Platforms

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.