Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) Shares Sold by Paces Ferry Wealth Advisors LLC

Paces Ferry Wealth Advisors LLC cut its stake in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 2.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 4,526 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 111 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms makes up 1.1% of Paces Ferry Wealth Advisors LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 26th largest holding. Paces Ferry Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $1,602,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in META. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 7.7% in the 4th quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 451,581 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $159,841,000 after purchasing an additional 32,423 shares in the last quarter. Bank of Stockton increased its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 9.2% in the 4th quarter. Bank of Stockton now owns 4,743 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $1,819,000 after purchasing an additional 400 shares during the period. Signify Wealth acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter worth approximately $228,000. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund boosted its position in Meta Platforms by 1.8% during the fourth quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund now owns 223,788 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $79,212,000 after purchasing an additional 4,025 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Investment Research & Advisory Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. Investment Research & Advisory Group Inc. now owns 10,962 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $3,880,000 after buying an additional 164 shares during the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

META stock traded down $2.45 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $430.17. 18,396,504 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 18,427,248. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $492.83 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $406.97. The company has a quick ratio of 2.68, a current ratio of 2.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1-year low of $229.85 and a 1-year high of $531.49. The company has a market cap of $1.10 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.71, a PEG ratio of 1.15 and a beta of 1.20.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The social networking company reported $4.71 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.32 by $0.39. The company had revenue of $36.46 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $36.28 billion. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 32.03% and a net margin of 32.06%. On average, analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 20.2 earnings per share for the current 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. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 21st. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.46%. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is 11.49%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Susan J. Li sold 10,956 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $473.28, for a total transaction of $5,185,255.68. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 76,398 shares in the company, valued at $36,157,645.44. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, CFO Susan J. Li sold 10,956 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $473.28, for a total value of $5,185,255.68. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 76,398 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $36,157,645.44. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 19,681 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $393.85, for a total value of $7,751,361.85. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 1,276,482 shares of company stock valued at $620,451,095 over the last three months. 13.71% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

META has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Needham & Company LLC restated an “underperform” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday, April 25th. Raymond James reduced their price target on Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $525.00 and set a “strong-buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. Rosenblatt Securities increased their price objective on Meta Platforms from $520.00 to $562.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 25th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $375.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, February 2nd. Finally, KeyCorp dropped their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $575.00 to $555.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 22nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, thirty-seven have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $509.18.

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.