Lorne Steinberg Wealth Management Inc. Has $7.51 Million Stock Holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Lorne Steinberg Wealth Management Inc. cut its position in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 7.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 21,220 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 1,778 shares during the period. Meta Platforms comprises 2.5% of Lorne Steinberg Wealth Management Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 8th biggest position. Lorne Steinberg Wealth Management Inc.’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $7,511,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of META. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 7.7% in the 4th quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 451,581 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $159,841,000 after acquiring an additional 32,423 shares during the period. Bank of Stockton increased its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 9.2% in the 4th quarter. Bank of Stockton now owns 4,743 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $1,819,000 after acquiring an additional 400 shares during the period. Signify Wealth purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter valued at $228,000. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund increased its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.8% in the 4th quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund now owns 223,788 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $79,212,000 after acquiring an additional 4,025 shares during the period. Finally, Investment Research & Advisory Group Inc. grew its stake in Meta Platforms by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. Investment Research & Advisory Group Inc. now owns 10,962 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $3,880,000 after buying an additional 164 shares during the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Meta Platforms news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 566 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $404.00, for a total transaction of $228,664.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 34,720 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $14,026,880. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 566 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $404.00, for a total transaction of $228,664.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 34,720 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,026,880. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 490 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction on Friday, April 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $517.75, for a total transaction of $253,697.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 7,579 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,924,027.25. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 1,368,244 shares of company stock valued at $657,034,449. Company insiders own 14.03% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

NASDAQ:META traded down $5.90 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $490.20. 12,912,186 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 17,067,006. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $495.52 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $402.50. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12 month low of $207.13 and a 12 month high of $531.49. The company has a quick ratio of 2.67, a current ratio of 2.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. The company has a market capitalization of $1.25 trillion, a P/E ratio of 33.27, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.23 and a beta of 1.20.

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, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.82 by $0.51. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 28.98% and a return on equity of 29.48%. The firm had revenue of $40.11 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $39.12 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $3.00 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 24.7% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 20.18 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts recently weighed in on META shares. Wolfe Research boosted their target price on Meta Platforms from $430.00 to $530.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. Canaccord Genuity Group upped their target price on Meta Platforms from $580.00 to $610.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 17th. Robert W. Baird increased their target price on Meta Platforms from $385.00 to $525.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, February 2nd. Truist Financial raised their price target on Meta Platforms from $525.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 17th. Finally, Monness Crespi & Hardt lifted their price target on Meta Platforms from $370.00 to $540.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 2nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, thirty-eight have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Meta Platforms has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $520.28.

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.