K.J. Harrison & Partners Inc Trims Position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

K.J. Harrison & Partners Inc decreased its position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 27.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 15,822 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 5,993 shares during the quarter. K.J. Harrison & Partners Inc’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $5,600,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in META. Blodgett Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter worth about $434,000. Callan Capital LLC raised its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 27.8% in the fourth quarter. Callan Capital LLC now owns 2,711 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $960,000 after buying an additional 589 shares during the period. Bahl & Gaynor Inc. raised its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 3.2% during the fourth quarter. Bahl & Gaynor Inc. now owns 6,838 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $2,420,000 after acquiring an additional 215 shares in the last quarter. Herold Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in Meta Platforms by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Herold Advisors Inc. now owns 8,165 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $2,890,000 after buying an additional 46 shares during the period. Finally, Bryn Mawr Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Meta Platforms by 5.0% during the fourth quarter. Bryn Mawr Capital Management LLC now owns 32,056 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $11,346,000 after acquiring an additional 1,530 shares during the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have commented on META shares. UBS Group lowered their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $610.00 to $575.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday. Robert W. Baird reduced their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $525.00 to $500.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday. Needham & Company LLC reiterated an “underperform” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday. Sanford C. Bernstein decreased their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $590.00 to $565.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday. Finally, Guggenheim lowered their price target on Meta Platforms from $520.00 to $500.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, thirty-eight have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $509.18.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 8,036 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $473.28, for a total value of $3,803,278.08. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief technology officer now owns 18,432 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,723,496.96. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 8,036 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $473.28, for a total value of $3,803,278.08. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief technology officer now owns 18,432 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,723,496.96. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 585 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $491.25, for a total transaction of $287,381.25. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 37,228 shares in the company, valued at $18,288,255. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 1,349,148 shares of company stock valued at $649,552,559 over the last 90 days. 13.75% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Meta Platforms Stock Up 0.4 %

Shares of NASDAQ:META traded up $1.91 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $443.29. The company had a trading volume of 32,645,619 shares, compared to its average volume of 18,391,986. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1-year low of $229.85 and a 1-year high of $531.49. The stock has a market cap of $1.13 trillion, a PE ratio of 25.46, a P/E/G ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a quick ratio of 2.67, a current ratio of 2.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $494.48 and its 200 day moving average price is $404.27.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The social networking company reported $4.71 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.32 by $0.39. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 32.37% and a net margin of 32.06%. The business had revenue of $36.46 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $36.28 billion. Research analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 20.18 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 26th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 22nd were paid a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.45%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 21st. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 11.49%.

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.