Beaumont Financial Advisors LLC Sells 266 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Beaumont Financial Advisors LLC lessened its position in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 0.7% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 39,552 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 266 shares during the period. Meta Platforms accounts for 1.3% of Beaumont Financial Advisors LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 26th biggest holding. Beaumont Financial Advisors LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $14,000,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of META. WoodTrust Financial Corp grew its holdings in Meta Platforms by 1.8% in the 4th quarter. WoodTrust Financial Corp now owns 1,547 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $548,000 after acquiring an additional 27 shares during the last quarter. Tennessee Valley Asset Management Partners grew its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Tennessee Valley Asset Management Partners now owns 4,566 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $1,616,000 after purchasing an additional 27 shares during the last quarter. Peterson Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. Peterson Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,468 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $520,000 after purchasing an additional 28 shares during the last quarter. Edge Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 4.0% in the fourth quarter. Edge Wealth Management LLC now owns 730 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $258,000 after purchasing an additional 28 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Yarger Wealth Strategies LLC grew its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 4.0% in the fourth quarter. Yarger Wealth Strategies LLC now owns 736 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $260,000 after purchasing an additional 28 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Trading Down 3.6 %

Meta Platforms stock traded down $17.92 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $483.88. The stock had a trading volume of 15,443,377 shares, compared to its average volume of 17,024,172. The company has a quick ratio of 2.67, a current ratio of 2.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 52-week low of $207.13 and a 52-week high of $531.49. The firm has a market cap of $1.23 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a fifty day moving average of $494.29 and a 200 day moving average of $397.43.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 1st. The social networking company reported $5.33 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.82 by $0.51. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 28.98% and a return on equity of 29.48%. The company had revenue of $40.11 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $39.12 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $3.00 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 24.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 20.18 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Transactions at Meta Platforms

In other news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 19,681 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $384.54, for a total transaction of $7,568,131.74. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 585 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $498.59, for a total transaction of $291,675.15. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 37,813 shares in the company, valued at $18,853,183.67. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 19,681 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $384.54, for a total transaction of $7,568,131.74. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 1,421,182 shares of company stock valued at $677,574,550. 13.75% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

META has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Tigress Financial raised their target price on Meta Platforms from $435.00 to $575.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 9th. Bank of America raised their target price on Meta Platforms from $425.00 to $510.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. Canaccord Genuity Group lifted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $580.00 to $610.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $450.00 to $525.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. Finally, Roth Mkm reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $500.00 price objective on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Monday, March 18th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, thirty-eight have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $519.53.

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.