Appleton Partners Inc. MA Trims Holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Appleton Partners Inc. MA trimmed its holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 4.9% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 6,944 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 355 shares during the quarter. Appleton Partners Inc. MA’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $3,372,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Stone House Investment Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 625.0% during the 3rd quarter. Stone House Investment Management LLC now owns 87 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 75 shares during the last quarter. Beaird Harris Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 68.9% during the third quarter. Beaird Harris Wealth Management LLC now owns 103 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 42 shares during the period. Quest Partners LLC purchased a new position in Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter valued at about $32,000. Clear Investment Research LLC grew its stake in Meta Platforms by 411.1% in the fourth 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 last quarter. Finally, Cranbrook Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in Meta Platforms by 80.4% in the fourth 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 last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

NASDAQ META opened at $499.49 on Wednesday. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $274.38 and a fifty-two week high of $531.49. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $480.14 and its two-hundred day moving average is $444.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a current ratio of 2.68 and a quick ratio of 2.68. The firm has a market cap of $1.27 trillion, a P/E ratio of 28.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 1.21.

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

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared 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. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.40%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 14th. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is 11.49%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, COO Javier Olivan sold 490 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $507.00, for a total value of $248,430.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 9,049 shares in the company, valued at $4,587,843. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, COO Javier Olivan sold 490 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $507.00, for a total value of $248,430.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 9,049 shares in the company, valued at $4,587,843. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 585 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $522.00, for a total transaction of $305,370.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 38,398 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $20,043,756. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 391,071 shares of company stock worth $192,834,857 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the company. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their target price on Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $570.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. Guggenheim reduced their price objective on Meta Platforms from $520.00 to $500.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 25th. KeyCorp dropped their target price on Meta Platforms from $575.00 to $555.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 22nd. Benchmark reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Monday, April 22nd. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their target price on Meta Platforms from $540.00 to $500.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 25th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, thirty-seven have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Meta Platforms has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target 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.