Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) Shares Sold by NJ State Employees Deferred Compensation Plan

NJ State Employees Deferred Compensation Plan decreased its position in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 4.8% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 33,600 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 1,700 shares during the period. Meta Platforms comprises about 1.6% of NJ State Employees Deferred Compensation Plan’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 7th largest holding. NJ State Employees Deferred Compensation Plan’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $11,893,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Bluesphere Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 12.2% during the third quarter. Bluesphere Advisors LLC now owns 917 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $275,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Everence Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in Meta Platforms by 8.1% in the 3rd quarter. Everence Capital Management Inc. now owns 61,580 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $18,487,000 after buying an additional 4,590 shares during the last quarter. ERTS Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in Meta Platforms by 5.5% in the 3rd quarter. ERTS Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,737 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $521,000 after buying an additional 90 shares during the last quarter. Essex LLC increased its stake in Meta Platforms by 36.2% in the 3rd quarter. Essex LLC now owns 5,375 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $1,614,000 after buying an additional 1,429 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Capital Investment Advisors LLC increased its stake in Meta Platforms by 7.0% in the 3rd quarter. Capital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 8,044 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $2,415,000 after buying an additional 528 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Stock Up 0.2 %

META stock traded up $1.01 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $442.39. 28,964,363 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 18,331,908. The company has a market cap of $1.13 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.21, a P/E/G ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 1.20. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $495.08 and its 200-day moving average price is $403.40. The company has a quick ratio of 2.67, a current ratio of 2.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 52 week low of $229.85 and a 52 week high of $531.49.

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

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

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

Insider Activity at Meta Platforms

In related news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 585 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $491.25, for a total transaction of $287,381.25. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 37,228 shares in the company, valued at $18,288,255. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other Meta Platforms news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 585 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $18,288,255. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 19,681 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $393.85, for a total transaction of $7,751,361.85. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 1,349,148 shares of company stock worth $649,552,559. 13.75% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

META has been the topic of several recent research reports. Robert W. Baird lowered their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $525.00 to $500.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $397.00 to $450.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. Wolfe Research reduced their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $530.00 to $500.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday. Monness Crespi & Hardt boosted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $370.00 to $540.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group dropped their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $610.00 to $575.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, thirty-eight have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $509.18.

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.