Stonebridge Capital Advisors LLC Has $30.21 Million Stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Stonebridge Capital Advisors LLC decreased its position in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 13.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 51,588 shares of the social networking company's stock after selling 7,801 shares during the period. Meta Platforms makes up about 2.4% of Stonebridge Capital Advisors LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 9th largest position. Stonebridge Capital Advisors LLC's holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $30,206,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Millstone Evans Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter worth $40,000. Avondale Wealth Management purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter valued at about $41,000. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter worth approximately $43,000. Cordant Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $59,000. Finally, Conquis Financial LLC purchased a new position in Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter worth $59,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.91% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 35,921 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $644.76, for a total value of $23,160,423.96. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 406 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, April 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $491.69, for a total value of $199,626.14. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 4,608 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,265,707.52. This trade represents a 8.10 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 343,068 shares of company stock valued at $237,676,335. 13.71% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Meta Platforms Stock Up 4.1 %

Shares of NASDAQ META opened at $520.79 on Thursday. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 52-week low of $414.50 and a 52-week high of $740.91. The company has a quick ratio of 2.98, a current ratio of 2.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $594.44 and its 200-day simple moving average is $605.11. The firm has a market cap of $1.32 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.77, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.28.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The social networking company reported $8.02 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 firm earned $5.33 EPS. Equities analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th were given a dividend of $0.525 per share. This is an increase from Meta Platforms's previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.40%. Meta Platforms's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 8.78%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently weighed in on META. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price objective on Meta Platforms from $765.00 to $685.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 14th. Truist Financial dropped their target price on Meta Platforms from $770.00 to $700.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Argus set a $775.00 price objective on Meta Platforms in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Cantor Fitzgerald reduced their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $790.00 to $624.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. Finally, KeyCorp cut their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $710.00 to $645.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, thirty-five have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $676.55.

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.

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