Belmont Capital LLC Decreases Stock Holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Belmont Capital LLC trimmed its stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 8.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 159,496 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 15,272 shares during the period. Meta Platforms accounts for approximately 15.2% of Belmont Capital LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 2nd largest position. Belmont Capital LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $93,387,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of META. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 191,198,005 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $111,948,344,000 after acquiring an additional 1,502,553 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Meta Platforms by 2.1% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 49,181,127 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $28,719,970,000 after buying an additional 1,020,519 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $19,949,512,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 3.1% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 14,251,766 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $8,344,552,000 after buying an additional 424,201 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership lifted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 27.0% in the fourth quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 8,901,521 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $5,211,967,000 after buying an additional 1,892,509 shares in the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Meta Platforms

In related news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 35,921 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $626.80, for a total transaction of $22,515,282.80. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $618.00, for a total value of $559,290.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 30,200 shares in the company, valued at $18,663,600. This trade represents a 2.91 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 379,901 shares of company stock valued at $260,806,516. 13.71% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

Shares of Meta Platforms stock opened at $501.48 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 2.98, a quick ratio of 2.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $612.51 and its 200-day moving average price is $607.32. The firm has a market cap of $1.27 trillion, a P/E ratio of 20.96, a P/E/G ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.28. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12 month low of $414.50 and a 12 month high of $740.91.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The social networking company reported $8.02 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 business posted $5.33 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th were paid a $0.525 dividend. This is an increase from Meta Platforms’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.42%. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is 8.78%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently weighed in on META. Guggenheim cut their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $750.00 to $675.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Cantor Fitzgerald reduced their target price on Meta Platforms from $790.00 to $624.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on Meta Platforms from $725.00 to $610.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Bank of America cut their price target on Meta Platforms from $765.00 to $640.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. Finally, Benchmark raised Meta Platforms from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $820.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, thirty-five have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Meta Platforms presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $684.10.

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.