Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) Shares Sold by Boltwood Capital Management

Boltwood Capital Management cut its stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 2.2% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 4,678 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 107 shares during the period. Boltwood Capital Management’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $2,272,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Baird Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in Meta Platforms by 24.2% in the fourth quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 835,972 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $295,901,000 after buying an additional 163,067 shares during the period. California State Teachers Retirement System raised its holdings in Meta Platforms by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 3,576,285 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $1,265,862,000 after buying an additional 51,900 shares during the period. Donoghue Forlines LLC raised its holdings in Meta Platforms by 94.4% in the fourth quarter. Donoghue Forlines LLC now owns 8,349 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $2,955,000 after buying an additional 4,054 shares during the period. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. raised its holdings in Meta Platforms by 7.7% in the fourth quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 451,581 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $159,841,000 after buying an additional 32,423 shares during the period. Finally, Voyager Global Management LP raised its holdings in Meta Platforms by 37.3% in the fourth quarter. Voyager Global Management LP now owns 515,000 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $182,289,000 after buying an additional 140,000 shares during the period. 79.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

Shares of META opened at $499.49 on Thursday. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1 year low of $274.38 and a 1 year high of $531.49. The company has a market cap of $1.27 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.30 and a beta of 1.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a quick ratio of 2.68 and a current ratio of 2.68. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $479.79 and a 200-day moving average of $445.53.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last announced 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. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 32.06% and a return on equity of 32.03%. The company had revenue of $36.46 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $36.28 billion. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 20.16 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 26th. Investors of record on Friday, June 14th will be issued a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.40%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 14th. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is currently 11.49%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Sheryl Sandberg sold 105,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $476.71, for a total value of $50,054,550.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 630,293 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $300,466,976.03. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 77,412 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $506.92, for a total value of $39,241,691.04. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Sheryl Sandberg sold 105,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 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. Insiders sold 391,071 shares of company stock valued at $192,834,857 over the last 90 days. 13.71% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

META has been the topic of several research reports. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $570.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 25th. JMP Securities reiterated a “market outperform” rating and set a $550.00 price objective on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. Citigroup dropped their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $590.00 to $550.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 25th. Wedbush dropped 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. Finally, KeyCorp dropped their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $575.00 to $555.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. 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 assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $510.41.

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.