Brown Shipley& Co Ltd Cuts Stock Position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Brown Shipley& Co Ltd lowered its holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 21.7% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 5,825 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 1,612 shares during the period. Meta Platforms makes up about 1.0% of Brown Shipley& Co Ltd’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 25th largest holding. Brown Shipley& Co Ltd’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $2,062,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Stone House Investment Management LLC boosted its position in Meta Platforms by 625.0% in the third quarter. Stone House Investment Management LLC now owns 87 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 75 shares during the last quarter. Quest Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter valued at $32,000. Clear Investment Research LLC raised its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 411.1% during the 4th quarter. Clear Investment Research LLC now owns 92 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 74 shares during the period. Gilfoyle & Co LLC bought a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter valued at $39,000. Finally, Cranbrook Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 80.4% during the 4th quarter. Cranbrook Wealth Management LLC now owns 101 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 45 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Meta Platforms

In other news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 31,493 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $500.32, for a total value of $15,756,577.76. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 31,493 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $500.32, for a total value of $15,756,577.76. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed 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 value of $252,164.25. Following the completion of the transaction, 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. In the last three months, insiders have sold 422,564 shares of company stock worth $208,591,435. Insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Stock Up 0.5 %

META stock opened at $506.63 on Tuesday. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a twelve month low of $274.38 and a twelve month high of $531.49. The company has a quick ratio of 2.68, a current ratio of 2.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. The firm has a market cap of $1.29 trillion, a PE ratio of 29.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 1.21. The business has a 50 day moving average of $480.14 and a 200 day moving average of $444.30.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The social networking company reported $4.71 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.32 by $0.39. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 32.03% and a net margin of 32.06%. The business had revenue of $36.46 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $36.28 billion. On average, research analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 20.16 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 14th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.39%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is 11.49%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

META has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price objective on Meta Platforms from $585.00 to $540.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 25th. KeyCorp cut their price objective on Meta Platforms from $575.00 to $555.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 22nd. Oppenheimer dropped their target price on Meta Platforms from $585.00 to $500.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 25th. JMP Securities restated a “market outperform” rating and set a $550.00 target price on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Monday, April 22nd. Finally, Loop Capital dropped their target price on Meta Platforms from $555.00 to $550.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, May 1st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, thirty-seven have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Meta Platforms presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $510.41.

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.