Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) Shares Sold by Lorne Steinberg Wealth Management Inc.

Lorne Steinberg Wealth Management Inc. lowered its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 7.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 21,220 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 1,778 shares during the period. Meta Platforms comprises 2.5% of Lorne Steinberg Wealth Management Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 8th largest holding. Lorne Steinberg Wealth Management Inc.’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $7,511,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 7.7% in the fourth quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 451,581 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $159,841,000 after buying an additional 32,423 shares during the last quarter. Bank of Stockton raised its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 9.2% in the fourth quarter. Bank of Stockton now owns 4,743 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $1,819,000 after buying an additional 400 shares during the last quarter. Signify Wealth acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $228,000. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund grew its holdings in Meta Platforms by 1.8% in the fourth quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund now owns 223,788 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $79,212,000 after purchasing an additional 4,025 shares during the period. Finally, Investment Research & Advisory Group Inc. grew its holdings in Meta Platforms by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. Investment Research & Advisory Group Inc. now owns 10,962 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $3,880,000 after purchasing an additional 164 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

META has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $400.00 to $550.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, February 2nd. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $375.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. Wolfe Research boosted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $430.00 to $530.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $530.00 to $610.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 16th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $450.00 to $525.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, thirty-eight have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Meta Platforms presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $520.28.

Insider Transactions at Meta Platforms

In other news, COO Javier Olivan sold 490 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $488.03, for a total value of $239,134.70. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 79,944 shares in the company, valued at $39,015,070.32. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, COO Javier Olivan sold 490 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $488.03, for a total value of $239,134.70. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 79,944 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $39,015,070.32. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 8,036 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $473.28, for a total value of $3,803,278.08. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief technology officer now directly owns 18,432 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,723,496.96. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 1,368,244 shares of company stock worth $657,034,449. Insiders own 14.03% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

META stock traded down $5.90 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $490.20. 12,912,186 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 17,067,006. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a twelve month low of $207.13 and a twelve month high of $531.49. The company has a quick ratio of 2.67, a current ratio of 2.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $495.52 and a 200-day simple moving average of $402.50. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.25 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.27, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.23 and a beta of 1.20.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last announced its quarterly 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. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 29.48% and a net margin of 28.98%. The company had revenue of $40.11 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $39.12 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $3.00 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 24.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 20.18 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The business 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 21st. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.41%. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is 13.42%.

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.