Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) Shares Sold by Elite Wealth Management Inc.

Elite Wealth Management Inc. lessened its position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 37.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 15,524 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 9,105 shares during the period. Meta Platforms makes up 0.3% of Elite Wealth Management Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 13th biggest position. Elite Wealth Management Inc.’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $5,495,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.0% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 183,244,796 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $55,011,920,000 after purchasing an additional 1,733,182 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 4.0% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 130,809,908 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $39,270,443,000 after buying an additional 5,001,647 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley raised its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 3.4% during the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 36,277,772 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $10,890,950,000 after buying an additional 1,184,978 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter worth approximately $4,223,148,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 4.3% in the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 23,003,927 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $6,906,009,000 after acquiring an additional 946,871 shares in the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Meta Platforms Stock Down 1.7 %

NASDAQ META traded down $8.31 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $491.45. 4,729,494 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 16,975,201. The company has a market capitalization of $1.25 trillion, a P/E ratio of 33.34, a PEG ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.20. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $493.16 and a 200 day simple moving average of $396.01. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12 month low of $207.13 and a 12 month high of $531.49. The company has a current ratio of 2.67, a quick ratio of 2.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 1st. The social networking company reported $5.33 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.82 by $0.51. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 29.48% and a net margin of 28.98%. The company had revenue of $40.11 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $39.12 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $3.00 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 24.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 20.06 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 26th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 22nd were issued a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.41%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 21st. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 13.42%.

Insider Transactions at Meta Platforms

In other news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 19,681 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $381.77, for a total transaction of $7,513,615.37. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In related news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 19,681 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $381.77, for a total value of $7,513,615.37. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 585 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $522.00, for a total transaction of $305,370.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 38,398 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $20,043,756. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 1,439,788 shares of company stock worth $684,542,792 over the last three months. 14.03% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on META shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their target price on Meta Platforms from $450.00 to $525.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. Roth Mkm restated a “buy” rating and issued a $500.00 price objective on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Monday, March 18th. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on Meta Platforms from $375.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, February 2nd. UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $530.00 to $610.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Oppenheimer lifted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $525.00 to $585.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, April 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, thirty-eight have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $509.28.

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.