Yousif Capital Management LLC Lowers Stock Holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Yousif Capital Management LLC reduced its stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 3.4% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 319,781 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 11,166 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms comprises 1.3% of Yousif Capital Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 5th largest position. Yousif Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $113,190,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of META. Stone House Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 625.0% during the third quarter. Stone House Investment Management LLC now owns 87 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 75 shares during the period. Beaird Harris Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 68.9% during the third quarter. Beaird Harris Wealth Management LLC now owns 103 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 42 shares during the period. PayPay Securities Corp increased its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 65.2% during the third quarter. PayPay Securities Corp now owns 109 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 43 shares during the period. Cranbrook Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 80.4% during the fourth quarter. Cranbrook Wealth Management LLC now owns 101 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 45 shares during the period. Finally, Gilfoyle & Co LLC bought a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter worth approximately $39,000. 79.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Meta Platforms Stock Up 3.0 %

META traded up $14.37 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $496.10. The company had a trading volume of 14,985,989 shares, compared to its average volume of 17,131,002. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 52 week low of $207.13 and a 52 week high of $531.49. The company has a quick ratio of 2.67, a current ratio of 2.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. The company has a market capitalization of $1.26 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.30, a PEG ratio of 1.22 and a beta of 1.20. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $495.52 and its 200 day moving average price is $402.50.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 1st. The social networking company reported $5.33 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.82 by $0.51. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 28.98% and a return on equity of 29.48%. The firm had revenue of $40.11 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $39.12 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $3.00 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 24.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 20.18 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 26th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 22nd were issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.40%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 21st. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is currently 13.42%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $400.00 to $565.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, February 2nd. Canaccord Genuity Group increased their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $580.00 to $610.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 17th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $500.00 to $555.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, April 15th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $585.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. Finally, Bank of America increased their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $425.00 to $510.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, thirty-eight have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $520.28.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 19,681 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $392.36, for a total transaction of $7,722,037.16. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 19,681 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $392.36, for a total transaction of $7,722,037.16. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CFO Susan J. Li sold 10,956 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $473.28, for a total transaction of $5,185,255.68. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 76,398 shares in the company, valued at $36,157,645.44. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 1,392,425 shares of company stock worth $666,533,986 over the last three months. 14.03% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.