Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) Stock Holdings Decreased by Sterling Financial Planning Inc.

Sterling Financial Planning Inc. lowered its stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 5.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 1,637 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 93 shares during the period. Sterling Financial Planning Inc.’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $579,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of META. Stone House Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 625.0% in the 3rd quarter. Stone House Investment Management LLC now owns 87 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 75 shares during the period. MBM Wealth Consultants LLC acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. Stephens Investment Management Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the 2nd quarter valued at about $30,000. Beaird Harris Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 68.9% in the 3rd quarter. Beaird Harris Wealth Management LLC now owns 103 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 42 shares during the period. Finally, PayPay Securities Corp boosted its stake in Meta Platforms by 65.2% during the 3rd quarter. PayPay Securities Corp now owns 109 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 43 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on META shares. Bank of America upped their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $425.00 to $510.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. Oppenheimer boosted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $525.00 to $585.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, April 8th. Canaccord Genuity Group boosted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $580.00 to $610.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $530.00 to $610.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday. Finally, Monness Crespi & Hardt boosted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $370.00 to $540.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 2nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating, thirty-eight have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $519.53.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

Meta Platforms stock traded down $12.66 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $489.14. The company had a trading volume of 7,468,667 shares, compared to its average volume of 16,915,494. The company has a quick ratio of 2.67, a current ratio of 2.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 52 week low of $207.13 and a 52 week high of $531.49. The company has a 50 day moving average of $494.29 and a 200-day moving average of $397.43. The firm has a market cap of $1.25 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.93, a PEG ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 1.20.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 1st. The social networking company reported $5.33 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.82 by $0.51. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 28.98% and a return on equity of 29.48%. The firm had revenue of $40.11 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $39.12 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $3.00 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 24.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 20.18 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 26th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 22nd were paid a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.41%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 21st. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is 13.42%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 19,681 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $392.36, for a total transaction of $7,722,037.16. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 19,681 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $392.36, for a total transaction of $7,722,037.16. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Susan J. Li sold 10,956 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 approximately $36,157,645.44. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 1,421,182 shares of company stock worth $677,574,550. 13.75% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.