Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) Stake Reduced by Lynch Asset Management Inc.

Lynch Asset Management Inc. cut its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 0.1% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 17,675 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 25 shares during the period. Meta Platforms accounts for 4.6% of Lynch Asset Management Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 3rd biggest position. Lynch Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $10,187,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Valley Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 2.4% in the fourth quarter. Valley Financial Group Inc. now owns 588 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $344,000 after acquiring an additional 14 shares in the last quarter. Lantern Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Lantern Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,976 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $1,743,000 after acquiring an additional 14 shares in the last quarter. Seelaus Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Seelaus Asset Management LLC now owns 1,640 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $960,000 after acquiring an additional 15 shares in the last quarter. Meredith Wealth Planning boosted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Meredith Wealth Planning now owns 1,873 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $1,097,000 after acquiring an additional 15 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Maiden Cove Capital LLC boosted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 3.2% in the fourth quarter. Maiden Cove Capital LLC now owns 481 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $282,000 after acquiring an additional 15 shares in the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on META shares. Roth Capital upped their price target on Meta Platforms from $580.00 to $620.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Benchmark lowered their price target on Meta Platforms from $820.00 to $640.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. KeyCorp upped their price target on Meta Platforms from $645.00 to $655.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Citigroup upped their price target on Meta Platforms from $655.00 to $690.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, DA Davidson lowered their price target on Meta Platforms from $800.00 to $650.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 14th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, thirty-seven have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Meta Platforms currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $704.26.

Insider Activity at Meta Platforms

In related news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 7,802 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $701.96, for a total transaction of $5,476,691.92. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 110,477 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $77,550,434.92. This represents a 6.60% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 608 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $607.50, for a total value of $369,360.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 7,446 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,523,445. The trade was a 7.55% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 86,201 shares of company stock valued at $56,377,837. Insiders own 13.61% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

NASDAQ:META opened at $682.87 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 2.98, a quick ratio of 2.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12-month low of $442.65 and a 12-month high of $740.91. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $604.07 and a 200 day moving average price of $619.26. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.72 trillion, a P/E ratio of 28.55, a P/E/G ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.26.

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

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

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

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.