Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) Stake Decreased by Great Lakes Retirement Inc.

Great Lakes Retirement Inc. cut its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 1.4% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 6,101 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 85 shares during the period. Great Lakes Retirement Inc.’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $2,159,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Peterson Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in Meta Platforms by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. Peterson Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,468 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $520,000 after purchasing an additional 28 shares in the last quarter. Edge Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 4.0% in the 4th quarter. Edge Wealth Management LLC now owns 730 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $258,000 after buying an additional 28 shares in the last quarter. Curated Wealth Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.8% during the 4th quarter. Curated Wealth Partners LLC now owns 1,602 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $567,000 after buying an additional 29 shares during the period. Courier Capital LLC boosted its stake in Meta Platforms by 1.7% in the 4th quarter. Courier Capital LLC now owns 1,843 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $652,000 after buying an additional 31 shares in the last quarter. Finally, SRS Capital Advisors Inc. grew its position in Meta Platforms by 1.1% in the third quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 3,013 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $905,000 after acquiring an additional 32 shares during the period. 79.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 19,681 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $351.47, for a total value of $6,917,281.07. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 19,681 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $351.47, for a total transaction of $6,917,281.07. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 566 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $351.55, for a total transaction of $198,977.30. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 36,984 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,001,725.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 1,504,435 shares of company stock worth $703,629,367. 13.75% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Meta Platforms Stock Down 1.0 %

META stock traded down $4.71 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $489.15. 9,265,531 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 17,803,041. The firm has a market cap of $1.25 trillion, a P/E ratio of 32.84, a P/E/G ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.21. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1-year low of $202.54 and a 1-year high of $523.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a quick ratio of 2.67 and a current ratio of 2.67. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $464.84 and its 200 day simple moving average is $375.30.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 1st. The social networking company reported $5.33 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.82 by $0.51. The business had revenue of $40.11 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $39.12 billion. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 28.98% and a return on equity of 29.48%. The firm’s revenue was up 24.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $3.00 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 19.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 26th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 22nd were given a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.41%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 21st. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is presently 13.42%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently commented on META. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $425.00 to $550.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $420.00 to $535.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. Oppenheimer increased their price target on Meta Platforms from $385.00 to $525.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. Roth Mkm reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $500.00 price objective on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Monday, March 18th. Finally, Barclays increased their target price on Meta Platforms from $400.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, February 2nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, thirty-nine have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $496.35.

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.