Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) Stake Cut by Sterneck Capital Management LLC

Sterneck Capital Management LLC reduced its holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 1.6% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 7,270 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 121 shares during the period. Meta Platforms comprises about 2.3% of Sterneck Capital Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 14th largest holding. Sterneck Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $4,190,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of META. Millstone Evans Group LLC purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter worth about $40,000. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter worth about $43,000. Marshall & Sterling Wealth Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter worth about $45,000. Stuart Chaussee & Associates Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter worth about $47,000. Finally, Conquis Financial LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter worth about $59,000. 79.91% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

Meta Platforms stock opened at $642.23 on Friday. 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 $1.61 trillion, a PE ratio of 26.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.24. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a one year low of $442.65 and a one year high of $740.91. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $578.56 and a 200 day simple moving average of $611.04.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The social networking company reported $6.43 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.33 by $1.10. The business had revenue of $42.31 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $41.45 billion. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 38.17% and a net margin of 37.91%. Meta Platforms’s revenue was up 16.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $4.71 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 26th. Investors of record on Monday, June 16th will be given a dividend of $0.525 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 16th. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.33%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 8.19%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Meta Platforms news, COO Javier Olivan sold 608 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $673.96, for a total value of $409,767.68. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 8,662 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,837,841.52. The trade was a 6.56% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 921 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $644.00, for a total value of $593,124.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 33,945 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $21,860,580. The trade was a 2.64% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 56,664 shares of company stock worth $35,484,670 in the last 90 days. 13.61% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Loop Capital raised their price target on Meta Platforms from $695.00 to $888.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 16th. Truist Financial increased their price objective on Meta Platforms from $700.00 to $720.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on Meta Platforms from $628.00 to $655.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Meta Platforms from $615.00 to $650.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Evercore ISI increased their price objective on Meta Platforms from $725.00 to $750.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, thirty-seven have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $701.05.

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.