Lorne Steinberg Wealth Management Inc. Decreases Position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Lorne Steinberg Wealth Management Inc. lessened its holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 0.3% during the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 20,944 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 53 shares during the period. Meta Platforms makes up approximately 3.4% of Lorne Steinberg Wealth Management Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 4th biggest position. Lorne Steinberg Wealth Management Inc.’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $10,560,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. Baird Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 24.2% in the 4th quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 835,972 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $295,901,000 after acquiring an additional 163,067 shares during the last quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System grew its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.5% in the 4th quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 3,576,285 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $1,265,862,000 after buying an additional 51,900 shares during the period. Donoghue Forlines LLC increased its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 94.4% in the 4th quarter. Donoghue Forlines LLC now owns 8,349 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $2,955,000 after buying an additional 4,054 shares in the last quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. raised its stake in Meta Platforms by 7.7% during the 4th quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 451,581 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $159,841,000 after buying an additional 32,423 shares during the period. Finally, Voyager Global Management LP lifted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 37.3% during the fourth quarter. Voyager Global Management LP now owns 515,000 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $182,289,000 after acquiring an additional 140,000 shares in the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

Meta Platforms stock opened at $527.42 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a current ratio of 2.83 and a quick ratio of 2.68. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a one year low of $274.38 and a one year high of $542.81. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $500.48 and its 200 day moving average is $487.20. The firm has a market cap of $1.34 trillion, a P/E ratio of 30.29, a P/E/G ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 1.21.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 31st. The social networking company reported $5.16 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.70 by $0.46. The company had revenue of $39.07 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $38.26 billion. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 34.34% and a return on equity of 34.16%. Meta Platforms’s revenue for the quarter was up 22.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $3.23 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 20.5 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 14th were paid a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.38%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 14th. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is 11.49%.

Insider Activity at Meta Platforms

In other Meta Platforms news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $467.57, for a total value of $423,150.85. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 43,275 shares in the company, valued at $20,234,091.75. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $467.57, for a total transaction of $423,150.85. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 43,275 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,234,091.75. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 412 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $472.70, for a total transaction of $194,752.40. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 15,376 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,268,235.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 349,174 shares of company stock worth $175,146,777 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently commented on META. Barclays raised their price target on Meta Platforms from $520.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Roth Mkm raised their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $510.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $480.00 to $610.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Guggenheim upped their price objective on Meta Platforms from $500.00 to $600.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, Robert W. Baird upped their price target on Meta Platforms from $500.00 to $530.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating, thirty-three have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $574.41.

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.