Morris Financial Concepts Inc. Trims Position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Morris Financial Concepts Inc. lowered its stake in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 6.6% during the first quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 879 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 62 shares during the period. Morris Financial Concepts Inc.’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $427,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Alps Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 69.9% in the 3rd quarter. Alps Advisors Inc. now owns 26,817 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $8,051,000 after acquiring an additional 11,033 shares during the period. Evergreen Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Meta Platforms by 0.4% in the third quarter. Evergreen Capital Management LLC now owns 28,577 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $8,579,000 after purchasing an additional 125 shares during the period. Elevatus Welath Management acquired a new stake in Meta Platforms in the third quarter valued at about $506,000. Lowe Brockenbrough & Co. Inc. increased its position in Meta Platforms by 3.4% during the 3rd quarter. Lowe Brockenbrough & Co. Inc. now owns 57,612 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $17,296,000 after purchasing an additional 1,899 shares during the period. Finally, Lone Pine Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $834,315,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

Meta Platforms stock opened at $504.68 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $1.28 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 1.21. 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. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $480.46 and its 200-day moving average is $456.83.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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 net margin of 32.06% and a return on equity of 32.03%. The firm had revenue of $36.46 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $36.28 billion. Equities analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 20.16 earnings per share 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 issued a $0.50 dividend. 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 dividend payout ratio is currently 11.49%.

Insider Transactions at Meta Platforms

In related news, COO Javier Olivan sold 490 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $516.51, for a total transaction of $253,089.90. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 8,069 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,167,719.19. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In related news, COO Javier Olivan sold 490 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, April 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $516.51, for a total transaction of $253,089.90. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 8,069 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,167,719.19. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 576 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $466.33, for a total transaction of $268,606.08. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 36,067 shares in the company, valued at approximately $16,819,124.11. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 218,086 shares of company stock valued at $106,423,370 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently weighed in on META shares. UBS Group decreased their price target on Meta Platforms from $610.00 to $575.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 25th. TD Cowen lowered their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $590.00 to $530.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 25th. KeyCorp raised their price objective 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $535.00 to $480.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 25th. Finally, Wedbush dropped their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $570.00 to $480.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 25th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, thirty-seven have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $511.27.

Meta Platforms Company Profile

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.