Beese Fulmer Investment Management Inc. Sells 11,792 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Beese Fulmer Investment Management Inc. trimmed its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 26.0% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 33,488 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 11,792 shares during the period. Meta Platforms comprises about 1.5% of Beese Fulmer Investment Management Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 19th largest position. Beese Fulmer Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $16,261,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter worth $11,285,855,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its position in Meta Platforms by 11,154.4% during the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 4,952,254 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $1,752,900,000 after purchasing an additional 4,908,251 shares in the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors grew its stake in Meta Platforms by 17.2% in the fourth 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 during the last quarter. Concentrum Wealth Management raised its holdings in Meta Platforms by 111.0% in the fourth quarter. Concentrum Wealth Management now owns 7,391,877 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $2,616,000 after purchasing an additional 3,888,308 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 186,349,346 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $65,960,215,000 after buying an additional 3,104,550 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

META has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. KeyCorp boosted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $475.00 to $540.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday. Rosenblatt Securities raised their price objective on Meta Platforms from $520.00 to $562.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. Citigroup reduced their target price on Meta Platforms from $590.00 to $550.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price target on Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $570.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 25th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets restated a “market perform” rating and set a $450.00 price objective on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Wednesday, June 12th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, thirty-seven have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $510.05.

Insider Buying and Selling at Meta Platforms

In other news, Director Sheryl Sandberg sold 105,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $476.71, for a total transaction of $50,054,550.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 630,293 shares in the company, valued at approximately $300,466,976.03. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other Meta Platforms news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 585 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $522.00, for a total transaction of $305,370.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 38,398 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,043,756. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Sheryl Sandberg sold 105,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $476.71, for a total transaction of $50,054,550.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 630,293 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $300,466,976.03. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 391,071 shares of company stock worth $192,834,857. Insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

Shares of Meta Platforms stock opened at $499.49 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.27 trillion, a P/E ratio of 28.69, a PEG ratio of 1.30 and a beta of 1.21. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $479.79 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $445.53. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12 month low of $274.38 and a 12 month high of $531.49. 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 posted its quarterly earnings data 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 firm had revenue of $36.46 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $36.28 billion. As a group, analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 20.16 EPS 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. Investors of record on Friday, June 14th will be given a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 14th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.40%. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio 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.