Grimes & Company Inc. Sells 881 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Grimes & Company Inc. trimmed its stake in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 1.5% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 59,193 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 881 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms makes up 0.9% of Grimes & Company Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 22nd biggest holding. Grimes & Company Inc.’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $28,743,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in META. Beaird Harris Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in Meta Platforms by 68.9% in the third quarter. Beaird Harris Wealth Management LLC now owns 103 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 42 shares in the last quarter. Quest Partners LLC bought a new stake in Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter worth approximately $32,000. Clear Investment Research LLC increased its holdings 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 worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 74 shares in the last quarter. Cranbrook Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings 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 worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 45 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Gilfoyle & Co LLC bought a new stake in Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter worth approximately $39,000. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

META opened at $504.22 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $1.28 trillion, a P/E ratio of 28.96, a PEG ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 1.21. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $480.00 and a 200 day moving average of $454.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a quick ratio of 2.68 and a current ratio of 2.68. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $274.38 and a fifty-two week high of $531.49.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The social networking company reported $4.71 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.32 by $0.39. The company had revenue of $36.46 billion during 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, research analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 20.16 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Meta Platforms

In other Meta Platforms 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 transaction of $50,054,550.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 630,293 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $300,466,976.03. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 585 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $431.05, for a total value of $252,164.25. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 36,643 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $15,794,965.15. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at 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 transaction, the director now owns 630,293 shares in the company, valued at $300,466,976.03. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 233,512 shares of company stock valued at $113,597,536 over the last three months. 13.71% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have weighed in on META. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on Meta Platforms from $527.00 to $588.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 16th. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their target price on Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $570.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 25th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their price objective on Meta Platforms from $540.00 to $500.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 25th. Robert W. Baird cut their target price on Meta Platforms from $525.00 to $500.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 25th. Finally, KeyCorp boosted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $475.00 to $540.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 20th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, thirty-seven have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Meta Platforms has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $510.05.

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.