Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC Sells 404 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC lessened its stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 3.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 12,470 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 404 shares during the period. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $4,414,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Galvin Gaustad & Stein LLC raised its position in Meta Platforms by 3.7% during the 3rd quarter. Galvin Gaustad & Stein LLC now owns 2,114 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $635,000 after purchasing an additional 75 shares during the last quarter. Goldstein Advisors LLC raised its position in Meta Platforms by 75.0% during the 3rd quarter. Goldstein Advisors LLC now owns 1,300 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $390,000 after purchasing an additional 557 shares during the last quarter. Advisory Alpha LLC raised its position in Meta Platforms by 14.7% during the 3rd quarter. Advisory Alpha LLC now owns 3,019 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $906,000 after purchasing an additional 388 shares during the last quarter. Secure Asset Management LLC raised its position in Meta Platforms by 20.3% during the 3rd quarter. Secure Asset Management LLC now owns 7,008 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $2,104,000 after purchasing an additional 1,181 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Waller Financial Planning Group Inc. bought a new position in Meta Platforms during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $204,000. Institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ META traded up $1.91 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $443.29. 32,645,619 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 18,233,678. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $494.48 and a two-hundred day moving average of $404.27. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.13 trillion, a P/E ratio of 25.46, a PEG ratio of 1.12 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a quick ratio of 2.67 and a current ratio of 2.68. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a one year low of $229.85 and a one year high of $531.49.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The social networking company reported $4.71 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 company had revenue of $36.46 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $36.28 billion. On average, equities analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 20.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have commented on the company. Rosenblatt Securities upped their price target on Meta Platforms from $520.00 to $562.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday. Oppenheimer lowered their price target on Meta Platforms from $585.00 to $500.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday. Wedbush reduced their target price on Meta Platforms from $570.00 to $480.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday. Susquehanna upped their target price on Meta Platforms from $400.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a report on Friday, February 2nd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on Meta Platforms from $535.00 to $480.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, thirty-eight have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $509.18.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 19,681 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $393.85, for a total value of $7,751,361.85. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In related news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 19,681 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $393.85, for a total value of $7,751,361.85. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 585 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $522.00, for a total value of $305,370.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 38,398 shares in the company, valued at $20,043,756. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 1,349,148 shares of company stock valued at $649,552,559. 13.75% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.