Archer Investment Corp Reduces Stock Holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Archer Investment Corp cut its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 13.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 8,805 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 1,387 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms makes up approximately 1.0% of Archer Investment Corp’s holdings, making the stock its 20th largest holding. Archer Investment Corp’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $3,117,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of META. Fairfield Bush & CO. purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms during the 1st quarter worth approximately $66,000. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. increased its holdings in Meta Platforms by 12.5% during the 1st quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 2,244,201 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $499,020,000 after purchasing an additional 249,926 shares during the last quarter. Ergoteles LLC increased its holdings in Meta Platforms by 284.0% during the 1st quarter. Ergoteles LLC now owns 3,356 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $746,000 after purchasing an additional 2,482 shares during the last quarter. First Western Trust Bank purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms during the 1st quarter worth approximately $813,000. Finally, Oxford Financial Group Ltd. grew its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 26.9% in the 1st quarter. Oxford Financial Group Ltd. now owns 1,888 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $420,000 after acquiring an additional 400 shares in the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Meta Platforms Stock Down 1.1 %

META opened at $494.17 on Thursday. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a one year low of $207.13 and a one year high of $531.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a quick ratio of 2.67 and a current ratio of 2.67. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $493.65 and its 200-day moving average is $396.70. The company has a market capitalization of $1.26 trillion, a PE ratio of 33.17, a P/E/G ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.20.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 1st. The social networking company reported $5.33 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.82 by $0.51. The business had revenue of $40.11 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $39.12 billion. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 29.48% and a net margin of 28.98%. Meta Platforms’s revenue was up 24.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $3.00 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 20.06 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 26th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 22nd were paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.40%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 21st. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 13.42%.

Insider Activity

In other news, COO Javier Olivan sold 490 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction on Friday, April 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $517.75, for a total transaction of $253,697.50. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 7,579 shares in the company, valued at $3,924,027.25. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other Meta Platforms news, COO Javier Olivan sold 490 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $517.75, for a total transaction of $253,697.50. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 7,579 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,924,027.25. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Susan J. Li sold 10,956 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $473.28, for a total transaction of $5,185,255.68. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 76,398 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $36,157,645.44. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 1,440,278 shares of company stock worth $684,796,490 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 13.75% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently commented on META. JMP Securities lifted their target price on Meta Platforms from $410.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. Canaccord Genuity Group lifted their target price on Meta Platforms from $450.00 to $540.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on Meta Platforms from $527.00 to $588.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their target price on Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $585.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. Finally, Citigroup lifted their target price on Meta Platforms from $525.00 to $590.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating, thirty-eight have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $518.15.

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.