Bristlecone Advisors LLC Sells 698 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Bristlecone Advisors LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 2.6% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 26,369 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 698 shares during the period. Meta Platforms makes up 0.9% of Bristlecone Advisors LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 25th biggest position. Bristlecone Advisors LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $9,334,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 183,244,796 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $55,011,920,000 after purchasing an additional 1,733,182 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC boosted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 4.0% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 130,809,908 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $39,270,443,000 after buying an additional 5,001,647 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley boosted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 3.4% during the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 36,277,772 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $10,890,950,000 after buying an additional 1,184,978 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter worth about $4,223,148,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp raised its holdings in Meta Platforms by 4.3% during the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 23,003,927 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $6,906,009,000 after acquiring an additional 946,871 shares in the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

META has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Roth Mkm restated a “buy” rating and issued a $500.00 price objective on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Monday, March 18th. Wedbush upped their price objective on Meta Platforms from $420.00 to $520.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Meta Platforms from $420.00 to $535.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. Susquehanna upped their target price on Meta Platforms from $400.00 to $550.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein upped their target price on Meta Platforms from $435.00 to $535.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, thirty-nine have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $500.88.

Meta Platforms Stock Down 1.5 %

Shares of NASDAQ:META opened at $519.25 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $1.32 trillion, a P/E ratio of 34.85, a P/E/G ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 1.20. 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 12-month low of $207.13 and a 12-month high of $531.49. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $483.21 and a 200 day simple moving average of $387.06.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 1st. The social networking company reported $5.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.82 by $0.51. The business had revenue of $40.11 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 for the quarter was up 24.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $3.00 EPS. Analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 19.94 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 26th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 22nd were given a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.39%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 21st. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 13.42%.

Insider Transactions at Meta Platforms

In other news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 566 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $373.58, for a total value of $211,446.28. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 35,852 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,393,590.16. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, COO Javier Olivan sold 490 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 79,944 shares in the company, valued at approximately $39,015,070.32. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 566 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $373.58, for a total value of $211,446.28. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 35,852 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,393,590.16. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 1,495,417 shares of company stock valued at $704,932,669. Corporate insiders own 14.03% of the company’s stock.

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.