Procyon Advisors LLC Decreases Stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Procyon Advisors LLC decreased its holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 1.7% in the first quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 39,619 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 687 shares during the period. Meta Platforms accounts for approximately 1.5% of Procyon Advisors LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 13th largest holding. Procyon Advisors LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $19,238,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in META. Baird Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 24.2% during the 4th quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 835,972 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $295,901,000 after buying an additional 163,067 shares during the last quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System increased its stake in Meta Platforms by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 3,576,285 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $1,265,862,000 after acquiring an additional 51,900 shares during the last quarter. Donoghue Forlines LLC raised its position in Meta Platforms by 94.4% in the fourth quarter. Donoghue Forlines LLC now owns 8,349 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $2,955,000 after purchasing an additional 4,054 shares during the period. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. raised its position in Meta Platforms by 7.7% in the fourth quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 451,581 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $159,841,000 after purchasing an additional 32,423 shares during the period. Finally, Voyager Global Management LP lifted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 37.3% in the 4th quarter. Voyager Global Management LP now owns 515,000 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $182,289,000 after purchasing an additional 140,000 shares during the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

META has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $540.00 to $500.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 25th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective 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. Loop Capital dropped their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $555.00 to $550.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, May 1st. Benchmark restated a “hold” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. Finally, Piper Sandler restated an “overweight” rating and set a $545.00 price target (down from $600.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. Two equities 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’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $510.05.

Insider Activity at Meta Platforms

In other Meta Platforms news, CFO Susan J. Li sold 8,951 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $471.85, for a total value of $4,223,529.35. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 74,580 shares in the company, valued at $35,190,573. 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 the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $431.05, for a total value of $252,164.25. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 36,643 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $15,794,965.15. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO Susan J. Li sold 8,951 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $471.85, for a total transaction of $4,223,529.35. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 74,580 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $35,190,573. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 233,512 shares of company stock worth $113,597,536 in the last 90 days. 13.71% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

Shares of META stock opened at $519.56 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $479.53 and its two-hundred day moving average is $452.69. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a quick ratio of 2.68 and a current ratio of 2.68. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1 year low of $274.38 and a 1 year high of $531.49. The firm has a market cap of $1.32 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.84, a PEG ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 1.21.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The social networking company reported $4.71 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.32 by $0.39. The firm had revenue of $36.46 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $36.28 billion. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 32.03% and a net margin of 32.06%. Analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 20.16 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 14th were issued a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 14th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.38%. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is 11.49%.

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.