Pointe Capital Management LLC Trims Stock Holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Pointe Capital Management LLC trimmed its holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 12.9% during the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 3,034 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 451 shares during the period. Meta Platforms comprises approximately 0.9% of Pointe Capital Management LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 21st largest holding. Pointe Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $1,473,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in Meta Platforms by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 186,349,346 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $65,960,215,000 after purchasing an additional 3,104,550 shares during the period. Capital World Investors increased its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 2.5% in the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 38,054,513 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $13,469,906,000 after purchasing an additional 927,491 shares in the last quarter. Capital International Investors increased its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 3.2% in the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 34,738,470 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $12,296,383,000 after purchasing an additional 1,083,719 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter valued at about $11,285,855,000. Finally, Capital Research Global Investors increased its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 17.2% in the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 30,217,175 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $10,695,722,000 after purchasing an additional 4,440,229 shares in the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Meta Platforms

In other news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 585 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $431.05, for a total transaction of $252,164.25. Following the completion of 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 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 stock was sold at an average price of $431.05, for a total value of $252,164.25. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 36,643 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,794,965.15. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 14,874 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, July 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $503.38, for a total value of $7,487,274.12. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 135,442 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $68,178,793.96. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 308,979 shares of company stock valued at $153,474,852. Corporate insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the company. Sanford C. Bernstein cut their price target on Meta Platforms from $590.00 to $565.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 25th. Canaccord Genuity Group cut their price objective on Meta Platforms from $610.00 to $575.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 25th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their price objective on Meta Platforms from $540.00 to $500.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 25th. Benchmark restated a “hold” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Monday, April 22nd. Finally, Wedbush lowered their target price on Meta Platforms from $570.00 to $480.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 25th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, thirty-seven have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $518.50.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

NASDAQ:META traded down $2.04 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $494.12. The stock had a trading volume of 2,459,958 shares, compared to its average volume of 16,077,549. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a twelve month low of $274.38 and a twelve month high of $542.81. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a quick ratio of 2.68 and a current ratio of 2.68. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.25 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.50, a PEG ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 1.21. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $493.17 and a 200 day simple moving average of $468.52.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last issued 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. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 32.06% and a return on equity of 32.03%. The company had revenue of $36.46 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $36.28 billion. On average, analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 20.21 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 26th. Shareholders 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 yield of 0.40%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 11.49%.

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.