Shilanski & Associates Inc. Lowers Stock Position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Shilanski & Associates Inc. lessened its position in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 2.9% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,937 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 116 shares during the quarter. Shilanski & Associates Inc.’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $1,912,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Stone House Investment Management LLC increased its stake in 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 purchasing an additional 75 shares in the last quarter. Quest Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter worth $32,000. Clear Investment Research LLC boosted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 411.1% during the fourth quarter. Clear Investment Research LLC now owns 92 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 74 shares in the last quarter. Gilfoyle & Co LLC purchased a new position in Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter valued at $39,000. Finally, Cranbrook Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 80.4% during 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 in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

META has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. TD Cowen reduced their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $590.00 to $530.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. JMP Securities reiterated a “market outperform” rating and set a $550.00 price target on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Monday, April 22nd. Barclays lowered their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $520.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 25th. Needham & Company LLC reiterated an “underperform” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday, April 25th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $555.00 to $500.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, thirty-seven have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Meta Platforms has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $510.05.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

Meta Platforms stock opened at $494.78 on Friday. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 52 week low of $274.38 and a 52 week 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’s 50-day simple moving average is $478.61 and its 200 day simple moving average is $447.50. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.26 trillion, a PE ratio of 28.42, a P/E/G ratio of 1.30 and a beta of 1.21.

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

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 26th. Stockholders 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 dividend yield of 0.40%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 14th. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is currently 11.49%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Meta Platforms news, COO Javier Olivan sold 412 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $505.75, for a total value of $208,369.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 8,031 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,061,678.25. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, COO Javier Olivan sold 412 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $505.75, for a total transaction of $208,369.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 8,031 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,061,678.25. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 16,702 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $503.34, for a total value of $8,406,784.68. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 275,297 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $138,567,991.98. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 313,169 shares of company stock valued at $153,344,736. 13.71% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.