Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) Shares Sold by Gilder Gagnon Howe & Co. LLC

Gilder Gagnon Howe & Co. LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 1.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 498,701 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 8,643 shares during the period. Meta Platforms comprises 3.1% of Gilder Gagnon Howe & Co. LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 5th largest position. Gilder Gagnon Howe & Co. LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $291,994,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of META. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in Meta Platforms by 1.9% during the 4th quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. now owns 65,716 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $38,477,000 after purchasing an additional 1,216 shares during the period. UP Strategic Wealth Investment Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 64.8% in the fourth quarter. UP Strategic Wealth Investment Advisors LLC now owns 1,579 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $925,000 after buying an additional 621 shares during the period. Three Seasons Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter worth about $725,000. Voya Financial Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 5.0% during the 4th quarter. Voya Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 9,214 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $5,448,000 after buying an additional 441 shares during the period. Finally, Knightsbridge Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 7.8% in the 4th quarter. Knightsbridge Asset Management LLC now owns 1,678 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $982,000 after acquiring an additional 121 shares during the period. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

META has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Arete Research upgraded shares of Meta Platforms to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. DA Davidson dropped their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $800.00 to $650.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Pivotal Research upped their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $800.00 to $875.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Wolfe Research lifted their target price on Meta Platforms from $670.00 to $730.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Finally, KeyCorp reduced their price target on Meta Platforms from $710.00 to $645.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, thirty-five have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $679.02.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

META opened at $547.27 on Friday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $587.00 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $604.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 2.98 and a quick ratio of 2.98. The company has a market capitalization of $1.39 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.28. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1-year low of $427.11 and a 1-year high of $740.91.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The social networking company reported $8.02 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $6.75 by $1.27. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 38.17% and a net margin of 37.91%. During the same period last year, the business earned $5.33 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th were issued a dividend of $0.525 per share. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.38%. This is a boost from Meta Platforms’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 8.78%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 921 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $491.87, for a total value of $453,012.27. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 27,498 shares in the company, valued at $13,525,441.26. The trade was a 3.24 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 413 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, January 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $627.59, for a total value of $259,194.67. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 15,862 shares in the company, valued at $9,954,832.58. This trade represents a 2.54 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 308,068 shares of company stock worth $214,968,924. 13.71% of the stock is owned by 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.