Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) Shares Sold by Cathy Pareto & Associates Inc.

Cathy Pareto & Associates Inc. lowered its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 17.6% in the first quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 993 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 212 shares during the quarter. Cathy Pareto & Associates Inc.’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $573,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of META. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter worth about $19,949,512,000. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in Meta Platforms by 67,172.9% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 23,452,665 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $13,517,178,000 after acquiring an additional 23,417,803 shares during the period. Proficio Capital Partners LLC raised its holdings in Meta Platforms by 78,471.1% in the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 6,248,763 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $3,658,713,000 after acquiring an additional 6,240,810 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter worth $2,243,603,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 13.5% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 23,445,565 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $13,727,613,000 after purchasing an additional 2,787,832 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Trading Down 0.6%

META opened at $666.85 on Wednesday. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12-month low of $442.65 and a 12-month high of $740.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 2.98 and a quick ratio of 2.98. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.68 trillion, a PE ratio of 27.88, a P/E/G ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.24. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $581.05 and its 200 day moving average price is $612.48.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The social networking company reported $6.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.33 by $1.10. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 37.91% and a return on equity of 38.17%. The business had revenue of $42.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $41.45 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $4.71 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 26th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 16th will be paid a dividend of $0.525 per share. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.31%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 16th. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is currently 8.19%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Meta Platforms

In other news, COO Javier Olivan sold 406 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $491.69, for a total value of $199,626.14. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 4,608 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,265,707.52. The trade was a 8.10% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 921 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $595.00, for a total value of $547,995.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 33,024 shares in the company, valued at $19,649,280. This trade represents a 2.71% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 55,135 shares of company stock worth $34,481,779 over the last quarter. 13.61% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

META has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Bank of America increased their target price on Meta Platforms from $640.00 to $690.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Jefferies Financial Group cut their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $725.00 to $600.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 7th. Cantor Fitzgerald boosted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $624.00 to $676.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Benchmark dropped their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $820.00 to $640.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, Barclays decreased their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $705.00 to $640.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 1st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, thirty-seven have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $701.05.

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.