Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) Shares Sold by BOS Asset Management LLC

BOS Asset Management LLC cut its position in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 8.4% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 2,449 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 225 shares during the quarter. BOS Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $1,434,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of META. Millstone Evans Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter worth approximately $40,000. Avondale Wealth Management purchased a new position in Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter valued at $41,000. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter valued at about $43,000. Cordant Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter worth about $59,000. Finally, Conquis Financial LLC purchased a new position in Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter valued at about $59,000. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

META has been the topic of several research reports. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on Meta Platforms from $530.00 to $610.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed an “underperform” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Monday, January 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $725.00 to $610.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $660.00 to $615.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday. Finally, Bank of America dropped their price target on Meta Platforms from $765.00 to $640.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, thirty-five have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $684.10.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 55,589 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $717.72, for a total value of $39,897,337.08. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 413 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $618.00, for a total value of $255,234.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 16,275 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,057,950. This represents a 2.47 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 379,901 shares of company stock worth $260,806,516 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

Meta Platforms stock opened at $501.48 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $1.27 trillion, a P/E ratio of 20.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.28. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a one year low of $414.50 and a one year high of $740.91. The business has a fifty day moving average of $608.14 and a two-hundred day moving average of $606.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 2.98 and a current ratio of 2.98.

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

Meta Platforms Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced 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 positive change from Meta Platforms’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.42%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is 8.78%.

About Meta Platforms

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.