Troy Asset Management Ltd Sells 7,961 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Troy Asset Management Ltd trimmed its stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 7.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 93,673 shares of the social networking company's stock after selling 7,961 shares during the period. Meta Platforms comprises approximately 1.8% of Troy Asset Management Ltd's investment portfolio, making the stock its 15th biggest position. Troy Asset Management Ltd's holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $54,846,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of META. JDM Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the 3rd quarter valued at $30,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC bought a new stake in Meta Platforms during the third quarter valued at $36,000. Millstone Evans Group LLC bought a new stake in Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter valued at $40,000. Avondale Wealth Management acquired a new stake in Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter worth about $41,000. Finally, Cordant Inc. bought a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter worth about $59,000. 79.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

Shares of META stock traded down $1.62 on Monday, hitting $575.12. 14,540,553 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 14,241,163. The firm's 50 day moving average is $655.23 and its two-hundred day moving average is $609.90. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a one year low of $414.50 and a one year high of $740.91. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.46 trillion, a PE ratio of 24.04, a P/E/G ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.23. The company has a current ratio of 2.98, a quick ratio of 2.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16.

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Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The social networking company reported $8.02 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates 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 last year, the firm earned $5.33 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th were issued a dividend of $0.525 per share. This is a boost from Meta Platforms's previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.37%. Meta Platforms's payout ratio is presently 8.78%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the company. Susquehanna raised their target price on Meta Platforms from $675.00 to $800.00 and gave the stock a "positive" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Scotiabank raised their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $583.00 to $627.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Citigroup raised their target price on Meta Platforms from $753.00 to $780.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on Meta Platforms from $530.00 to $610.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group cut their price target on Meta Platforms from $810.00 to $725.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Monday. Two equities research 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's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $718.55.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Meta Platforms news, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 5,060 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction dated Saturday, February 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $736.67, for a total transaction of $3,727,550.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief technology officer now owns 5,139 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,785,747.13. The trade was a 49.61 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 921 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $627.05, for a total transaction of $577,513.05. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 31,182 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,552,673.10. The trade was a 2.87 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 584,410 shares of company stock worth $386,031,454 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 13.71% of the company's stock.

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.