Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) Shares Sold by Strategic Advocates LLC

Strategic Advocates LLC decreased its holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 59.6% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 3,201 shares of the social networking company's stock after selling 4,727 shares during the period. Strategic Advocates LLC's holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $1,554,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Stone House Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 625.0% during the 3rd quarter. Stone House Investment Management LLC now owns 87 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 75 shares during the last quarter. Beaird Harris Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 68.9% during the 3rd quarter. Beaird Harris Wealth Management LLC now owns 103 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 42 shares during the last quarter. Quest Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter worth approximately $32,000. Clear Investment Research LLC increased its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 411.1% during the 4th quarter. Clear Investment Research LLC now owns 92 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 74 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cranbrook Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 80.4% during the 4th quarter. Cranbrook Wealth Management LLC now owns 101 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $36,000 after buying an additional 45 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.91% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Meta Platforms

In other Meta Platforms news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 585 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $505.29, for a total value of $295,594.65. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 39,568 shares in the company, valued at $19,993,314.72. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other Meta Platforms news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 585 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $505.29, for a total value of $295,594.65. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 39,568 shares in the company, valued at $19,993,314.72. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 490 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $517.75, for a total transaction of $253,697.50. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 7,579 shares in the company, valued at $3,924,027.25. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 422,564 shares of company stock worth $208,591,435. 13.71% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Meta Platforms Stock Down 1.4 %

NASDAQ:META traded down $7.14 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $499.49. 12,850,339 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 16,611,512. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $480.14 and a 200 day simple moving average of $444.30. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $274.38 and a fifty-two week high of $531.49. The company has a current ratio of 2.68, a quick ratio of 2.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. The company has a market capitalization of $1.27 trillion, a PE ratio of 28.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 1.21.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The social networking company reported $4.71 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.32 by $0.39. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 32.06% and a return on equity of 32.03%. The firm had revenue of $36.46 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $36.28 billion. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 20.16 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 14th will be paid a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 14th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.40%. Meta Platforms's dividend payout ratio is presently 11.49%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

META has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $527.00 to $588.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 16th. Raymond James increased their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $525.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 5th. Robert W. Baird lowered their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $525.00 to $500.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $585.00 to $540.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. Finally, Guggenheim lowered their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $520.00 to $500.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, thirty-seven have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $510.41.

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.

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