North Star Investment Management Corp. Sells 31 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

North Star Investment Management Corp. lowered its position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 0.5% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 5,981 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 31 shares during the quarter. North Star Investment Management Corp.’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $3,447,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $19,949,512,000. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 67,172.9% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 23,452,665 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $13,517,178,000 after acquiring an additional 23,417,803 shares in the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 78,471.1% during the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 6,248,763 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $3,658,713,000 after purchasing an additional 6,240,810 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter worth approximately $2,243,603,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 13.5% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 23,445,565 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $13,727,613,000 after buying an additional 2,787,832 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $628.00 to $655.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Loop Capital lifted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $695.00 to $888.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 16th. Raymond James decreased their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $800.00 to $750.00 and set a “strong-buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $740.00 price objective on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group cut their target price on Meta Platforms from $725.00 to $600.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 7th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, thirty-seven have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $706.88.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ META opened at $702.12 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 2.98 and a current ratio of 2.98. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $442.65 and a fifty-two week high of $740.91. The stock has a market cap of $1.77 trillion, a PE ratio of 29.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.26. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $607.90 and a 200-day moving average of $620.85.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The social networking company reported $6.43 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.33 by $1.10. The business had revenue of $42.31 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $41.45 billion. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 38.17% and a net margin of 37.91%. The firm’s revenue was up 16.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $4.71 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 26th. Investors of record on Monday, June 16th will be paid a dividend of $0.525 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 16th. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.30%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is currently 8.19%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Robert M. Kimmitt sold 475 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, May 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $628.25, for a total value of $298,418.75. Following the sale, the director now owns 10,272 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,453,384. This trade represents a 4.42% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 519 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $701.00, for a total value of $363,819.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 29,183 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,457,283. This represents a 1.75% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 84,672 shares of company stock valued at $55,455,647. Company insiders own 13.61% of the company’s stock.

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.