Eaton Financial Holdings Company LLC Lowers Holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

Eaton Financial Holdings Company LLC reduced its position in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 7.7% during the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 3,466 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 291 shares during the period. Meta Platforms accounts for 0.8% of Eaton Financial Holdings Company LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 28th biggest position. Eaton Financial Holdings Company LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $1,998,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Inlight Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the 1st quarter worth about $25,000. Barnes Dennig Private Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the 1st quarter worth about $28,000. MJT & Associates Financial Advisory Group Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the 1st quarter worth about $33,000. Marshall & Sterling Wealth Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter worth about $45,000. Finally, JCIC Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 102.6% during the 1st quarter. JCIC Asset Management Inc. now owns 79 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $46,000 after acquiring an additional 40 shares in the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Meta Platforms

In other news, insider Christopher K. Cox sold 15,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $767.80, for a total value of $11,517,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 222,205 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $170,608,999. This represents a 6.32% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 515 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $776.38, for a total transaction of $399,835.70. Following the transaction, the insider owned 25,035 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,436,673.30. This trade represents a 2.02% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 267,732 shares of company stock valued at $199,652,003 over the last quarter. 13.61% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

Meta Platforms stock opened at $767.37 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $1.93 trillion, a P/E ratio of 27.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 1.27. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $725.90 and a 200-day simple moving average of $655.75. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12-month low of $479.80 and a 12-month high of $796.25. The company has a current ratio of 1.97, a quick ratio of 1.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 30th. The social networking company reported $7.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.75 by $1.39. The business had revenue of $47.52 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $44.55 billion. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 39.99% and a return on equity of 39.33%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 21.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $5.16 EPS. Equities analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 26th. Investors of record on Monday, June 16th were paid a dividend of $0.525 per share. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 16th. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 7.60%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Rosenblatt Securities raised their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $846.00 to $918.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Monness Crespi & Hardt raised their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $780.00 to $860.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Piper Sandler raised their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $808.00 to $880.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Guggenheim reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $800.00 price target (up from $725.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Monday, July 28th. Finally, JMP Securities raised their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $750.00 to $900.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty-nine have issued a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $822.41.

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.