Modus Advisors LLC Lowers Stock Position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Modus Advisors LLC cut its position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 1.8% in the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 2,379 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 44 shares during the quarter. Modus Advisors LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $1,155,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Madison Wealth Partners Inc increased its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.6% in the 4th quarter. Madison Wealth Partners Inc now owns 1,417 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $502,000 after purchasing an additional 23 shares during the period. Addison Advisors LLC lifted its position in Meta Platforms by 3.9% in the 4th quarter. Addison Advisors LLC now owns 670 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $237,000 after buying an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. Smithfield Trust Co boosted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Smithfield Trust Co now owns 4,895 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $1,730,000 after buying an additional 25 shares during the period. American National Bank boosted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.6% during the 4th quarter. American National Bank now owns 1,590 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $563,000 after buying an additional 25 shares during the period. Finally, WoodTrust Financial Corp increased its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.8% in the fourth quarter. WoodTrust Financial Corp now owns 1,547 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $548,000 after acquiring an additional 27 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have commented on META. Truist Financial lowered their target price on Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $535.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 25th. BNP Paribas started coverage on Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday, May 2nd. They issued an “underperform” rating and a $360.00 price target for the company. UBS Group cut their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $610.00 to $575.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. Rosenblatt Securities boosted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $520.00 to $562.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. Finally, Roth Mkm raised their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $500.00 to $510.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating 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 given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $510.41.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 585 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $505.29, for a total value of $295,594.65. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 39,568 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $19,993,314.72. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Meta Platforms news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 77,412 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $506.92, for a total transaction of $39,241,691.04. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 585 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $505.29, for a total value of $295,594.65. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 39,568 shares in the company, valued at $19,993,314.72. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 391,071 shares of company stock worth $192,834,857 in the last quarter. Insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Stock Down 1.4 %

Shares of META opened at $499.49 on Wednesday. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $480.14 and its 200-day simple moving average is $444.30. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a one year low of $274.38 and a one year high of $531.49. The company has a market capitalization of $1.27 trillion, a P/E ratio of 28.69, a PEG ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 1.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a current ratio of 2.68 and a quick ratio of 2.68.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The social networking company reported $4.71 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 company had revenue of $36.46 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $36.28 billion. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 20.16 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 14th will be given a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 14th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.40%. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is 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.