Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) Stake Trimmed by Laird Norton Wetherby Wealth Management LLC

Laird Norton Wetherby Wealth Management LLC reduced its position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 2.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 66,967 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 1,680 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms accounts for approximately 1.9% of Laird Norton Wetherby Wealth Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 7th biggest holding. Laird Norton Wetherby Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $39,210,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Meta Platforms by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 191,198,005 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $111,948,344,000 after purchasing an additional 1,502,553 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in Meta Platforms by 2.1% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 49,181,127 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $28,719,970,000 after purchasing an additional 1,020,519 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its position in Meta Platforms by 2.5% in the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 42,317,434 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $24,777,282,000 after purchasing an additional 1,049,121 shares during the period. Capital World Investors raised its position in Meta Platforms by 2.9% in the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 40,317,105 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $23,606,338,000 after purchasing an additional 1,141,355 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter worth about $19,949,512,000. 79.91% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Meta Platforms

In other news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 902 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $713.32, for a total value of $643,414.64. Following the sale, the insider now owns 27,488 shares in the company, valued at $19,607,740.16. This trade represents a 3.18% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Christopher K. Cox sold 20,000 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $677.71, for a total transaction of $13,554,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 308,686 shares in the company, valued at approximately $209,199,589.06. This trade represents a 6.08% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 119,894 shares of company stock valued at $83,475,065. Corporate insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently commented on META. TD Securities reduced their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $725.00 to $700.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed an “underperform” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Raymond James reduced their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $800.00 to $750.00 and set a “strong-buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Pivotal Research reduced their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $875.00 to $830.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Truist Financial raised their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $700.00 to $720.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four 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, Meta Platforms has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $696.45.

Meta Platforms Trading Down 0.9%

Shares of Meta Platforms stock opened at $592.49 on Monday. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1 year low of $442.65 and a 1 year high of $740.91. 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 firm has a fifty day moving average price of $568.87 and a 200 day moving average price of $604.75. The stock has a market cap of $1.50 trillion, a PE ratio of 24.77, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.24.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The social networking company reported $6.43 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.33 by $1.10. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 37.91% and a return on equity of 38.17%. The company had revenue of $42.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $41.45 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $4.71 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.1% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th were issued a $0.525 dividend. This is a boost from Meta Platforms’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.35%. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is presently 8.19%.

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.