Hemington Wealth Management Cuts Stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Hemington Wealth Management reduced its position in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 10.4% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,607 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 186 shares during the quarter. Hemington Wealth Management’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $781,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in META. Modera Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in Meta Platforms by 8.5% in the 3rd quarter. Modera Wealth Management LLC now owns 7,775 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $2,334,000 after purchasing an additional 607 shares in the last quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in Meta Platforms by 180.1% in the 3rd quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. now owns 902 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $271,000 after purchasing an additional 580 shares in the last quarter. Trust Co. of Toledo NA OH raised its holdings in Meta Platforms by 9.2% in the 4th quarter. Trust Co. of Toledo NA OH now owns 6,174 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $2,185,000 after purchasing an additional 518 shares in the last quarter. FCF Advisors LLC bought a new position in Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter worth $4,105,000. Finally, Modus Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Meta Platforms by 9.9% in the 4th quarter. Modus Advisors LLC now owns 2,423 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $858,000 after purchasing an additional 218 shares in the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

NASDAQ META traded down $14.69 on Friday, reaching $498.01. 2,943,082 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 16,080,170. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a one year low of $274.38 and a one year high of $542.81. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.26 trillion, a PE ratio of 29.45, a PEG ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 1.21. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $491.62 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $464.99. The company has a current ratio of 2.68, a quick ratio of 2.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The social networking company reported $4.71 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.32 by $0.39. The company had revenue of $36.46 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $36.28 billion. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 32.06% and a return on equity of 32.03%. Analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 20.19 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 14th were given a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.40%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 14th. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is currently 11.49%.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Sheryl Sandberg sold 105,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $476.71, for a total value of $50,054,550.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 630,293 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $300,466,976.03. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other Meta Platforms news, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 5,058 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $471.85, for a total transaction of $2,386,617.30. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief technology officer now directly owns 15,412 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,272,152.20. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Sheryl Sandberg sold 105,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $476.71, for a total transaction of $50,054,550.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 630,293 shares in the company, valued at approximately $300,466,976.03. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 294,278 shares of company stock worth $146,060,559 over the last quarter. Insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have commented on META shares. Sanford C. Bernstein decreased their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $590.00 to $565.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 25th. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $570.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 25th. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $555.00 to $500.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $593.00 to $625.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday. Finally, Barclays reduced their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $520.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, thirty-seven have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $515.64.

Meta Platforms Company 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.