Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) Shares Acquired by Winthrop Capital Management LLC

Winthrop Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 77.5% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 307 shares of the social networking company’s stock after purchasing an additional 134 shares during the quarter. Winthrop Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $149,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. BKM Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter worth about $191,000. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC acquired a new stake in Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter worth about $147,000. JGP Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 11.8% in the fourth quarter. JGP Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,390 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $492,000 after purchasing an additional 147 shares during the period. Bond & Devick Financial Network Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $212,000. Finally, Kesler Norman & Wride LLC increased its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 99.7% in the fourth quarter. Kesler Norman & Wride LLC now owns 1,492 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $528,000 after purchasing an additional 745 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Stock Down 5.7 %

Shares of Meta Platforms stock traded down $27.80 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $461.99. 27,999,145 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 16,250,618. The company has a market cap of $1.17 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.21. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $493.60 and its 200 day simple moving average is $469.47. 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 52 week low of $274.38 and a 52 week high of $542.81.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The social networking company reported $4.71 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.32 by $0.39. The business had revenue of $36.46 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $36.28 billion. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 32.06% and a return on equity of 32.03%. Equities analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 20.21 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 26th. Investors 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.43%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 11.49%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 585 shares of Meta Platforms 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 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 accessible through this hyperlink. In other Meta Platforms news, COO Javier Olivan sold 490 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, April 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $441.54, for a total value of $216,354.60. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 6,599 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,913,722.46. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 585 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $431.05, for a total transaction of $252,164.25. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 36,643 shares in the company, valued at $15,794,965.15. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 308,979 shares of company stock worth $153,474,852 in the last quarter. 13.71% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

META has been the topic of several analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $585.00 to $540.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 25th. UBS Group dropped their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $610.00 to $575.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 25th. Raymond James raised their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $600.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, July 1st. Robert W. Baird dropped their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $525.00 to $500.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 25th. Finally, Wedbush lowered their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $570.00 to $480.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 25th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, thirty-seven have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $518.50.

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.