Alan B Lancz & Associates Inc. Sells 50 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Alan B Lancz & Associates Inc. cut its stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 2.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,365 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 50 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms comprises about 0.9% of Alan B Lancz & Associates Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 27th biggest holding. Alan B Lancz & Associates Inc.’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $837,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of META. Stone House Investment Management LLC raised its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 625.0% during the third quarter. Stone House Investment Management LLC now owns 87 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 75 shares during the last quarter. Beaird Harris Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in Meta Platforms by 68.9% during the third quarter. Beaird Harris Wealth Management LLC now owns 103 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 42 shares during the period. PayPay Securities Corp boosted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 65.2% during the third quarter. PayPay Securities Corp now owns 109 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 43 shares during the period. Cranbrook Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 80.4% during the fourth quarter. Cranbrook Wealth Management LLC now owns 101 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 45 shares during the period. Finally, Gilfoyle & Co LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter valued at $39,000. 79.91% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Meta Platforms

In other Meta Platforms news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 34,398 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $457.52, for a total value of $15,737,772.96. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 552 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $464.00, for a total transaction of $256,128.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 34,168 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $15,853,952. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 34,398 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $457.52, for a total transaction of $15,737,772.96. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 1,257,876 shares of company stock worth $613,168,252. Corporate insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently weighed in on the company. Rosenblatt Securities lifted 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. Raymond James decreased their price objective on Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $525.00 and set a “strong-buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 25th. Benchmark restated a “hold” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Monday, April 22nd. Sanford C. Bernstein decreased their price objective on Meta Platforms from $590.00 to $565.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 25th. Finally, Robert W. Baird decreased their price objective on Meta Platforms from $525.00 to $500.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 25th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, thirty-seven have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $509.80.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:META traded up $10.28 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $451.96. 16,489,057 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 20,698,000. 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 $1.15 trillion, a P/E ratio of 25.96, a PEG ratio of 1.15 and a beta of 1.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a quick ratio of 2.68 and a current ratio of 2.68. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $490.72 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $408.34.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The social networking company reported $4.71 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.32 by $0.39. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 32.03% and a net margin of 32.06%. The firm had revenue of $36.46 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $36.28 billion. Equities analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 20.1 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.