Puff Wealth Management LLC Cuts Stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Puff Wealth Management LLC cut its stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 0.8% during the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 4,316 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 37 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms accounts for about 2.3% of Puff Wealth Management LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 14th largest position. Puff Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $2,487,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in META. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in Meta Platforms by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 191,198,005 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $111,948,344,000 after purchasing an additional 1,502,553 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Meta Platforms by 2.1% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 49,181,127 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $28,719,970,000 after purchasing an additional 1,020,519 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its stake in Meta Platforms by 2.5% in the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 42,317,434 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $24,777,282,000 after purchasing an additional 1,049,121 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors grew its stake in Meta Platforms by 2.9% in the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 40,317,105 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $23,606,338,000 after purchasing an additional 1,141,355 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new position in Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter worth about $19,949,512,000. 79.91% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Meta Platforms Trading Down 1.5%

NASDAQ META opened at $682.87 on Friday. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a twelve month low of $442.65 and a twelve month high of $740.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 2.98 and a current ratio of 2.98. The stock has a market cap of $1.72 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.55, a PEG ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.26. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $604.07 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $619.26.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The social networking company reported $6.43 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 analysts’ expectations of $41.45 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $4.71 EPS. Meta Platforms’s revenue was up 16.1% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 7,802 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $701.96, for a total transaction of $5,476,691.92. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 110,477 shares in the company, valued at $77,550,434.92. The trade was a 6.60% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 608 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction on Monday, March 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $607.50, for a total transaction of $369,360.00. Following the completion of the sale, 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 position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 86,201 shares of company stock worth $56,377,837 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 13.61% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have commented on META shares. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $676.00 target price on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Wednesday. DA Davidson decreased their target price on Meta Platforms from $800.00 to $650.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Evercore ISI lifted their target price on Meta Platforms from $725.00 to $750.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on Meta Platforms from $615.00 to $650.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Raymond James decreased their target price on Meta Platforms from $800.00 to $750.00 and set a “strong-buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, thirty-seven have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $704.26.

Meta Platforms 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.