Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) Shares Sold by Stanley Laman Group Ltd.

Stanley Laman Group Ltd. lessened its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 5.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 1,326 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 75 shares during the quarter. Stanley Laman Group Ltd.’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $469,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of META. Stone House Investment Management LLC grew its position in Meta Platforms by 625.0% in the 3rd quarter. Stone House Investment Management LLC now owns 87 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 75 shares in the last quarter. Gilfoyle & Co LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter worth approximately $39,000. Cranbrook Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 80.4% in the fourth quarter. Cranbrook Wealth Management LLC now owns 101 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $36,000 after acquiring an additional 45 shares in the last quarter. Beaird Harris Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 68.9% during the third quarter. Beaird Harris Wealth Management LLC now owns 103 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 42 shares during the period. Finally, PayPay Securities Corp raised its holdings in Meta Platforms by 65.2% during the third quarter. PayPay Securities Corp now owns 109 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 43 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently commented on the company. Bank of America boosted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $425.00 to $510.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. TD Cowen cut their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $590.00 to $530.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday. Wolfe Research lowered their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $530.00 to $500.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday. Rosenblatt Securities increased their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $520.00 to $562.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Truist Financial reduced their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $535.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, thirty-eight have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $509.18.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

Shares of Meta Platforms stock traded up $1.91 on Friday, reaching $443.29. The stock had a trading volume of 32,645,619 shares, compared to its average volume of 18,391,986. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a quick ratio of 2.67 and a current ratio of 2.67. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $494.48 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $404.27. The stock has a market cap of $1.13 trillion, a P/E ratio of 25.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 1.20. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $229.85 and a fifty-two week high of $531.49.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The social networking company reported $4.71 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.32 by $0.39. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 32.06% and a return on equity of 32.37%. The firm had revenue of $36.46 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $36.28 billion. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 20.18 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 26th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 22nd were paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.45%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 21st. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is currently 11.49%.

Insider Transactions at Meta Platforms

In other Meta Platforms news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 566 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $404.00, for a total value of $228,664.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 34,720 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,026,880. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Meta Platforms news, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 8,036 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $473.28, for a total value of $3,803,278.08. Following the sale, the chief technology officer now directly owns 18,432 shares in the company, valued at $8,723,496.96. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 566 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $404.00, for a total transaction of $228,664.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 34,720 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $14,026,880. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 1,349,148 shares of company stock worth $649,552,559. 13.75% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.