Albert D Mason Inc. Sells 31 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Albert D Mason Inc. lowered its position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 0.9% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 3,386 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 31 shares during the period. Meta Platforms makes up approximately 1.2% of Albert D Mason Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 22nd biggest holding. Albert D Mason Inc.’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $1,708,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of the business. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter worth $11,285,855,000. Capital Research Global Investors lifted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 17.2% during the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 30,217,175 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $10,695,722,000 after buying an additional 4,440,229 shares in the last quarter. Concentrum Wealth Management boosted its position in Meta Platforms by 111.0% in the 4th quarter. Concentrum Wealth Management now owns 7,391,877 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $2,616,000 after buying an additional 3,888,308 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in Meta Platforms by 1.7% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 186,349,346 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $65,960,215,000 after acquiring an additional 3,104,550 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jennison Associates LLC increased its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 24.7% during the first quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 13,867,398 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $6,733,731,000 after acquiring an additional 2,748,620 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

META traded up $2.22 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $530.76. 4,057,084 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 16,347,372. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $498.29 and its 200-day simple moving average is $485.68. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.35 trillion, a P/E ratio of 30.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 1.21. 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 1 year low of $274.38 and a 1 year high of $542.81.

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

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $467.57, for a total transaction of $423,150.85. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 43,275 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $20,234,091.75. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In related news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 21st. The shares were 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 owns 43,275 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $20,234,091.75. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 16,702 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, August 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $513.09, for a total transaction of $8,569,629.18. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 98,654 shares in the company, valued at $50,618,380.86. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 315,770 shares of company stock worth $157,719,910. 13.71% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently issued reports on META. TD Securities increased their price objective on Meta Platforms from $530.00 to $600.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 10th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price target on Meta Platforms from $525.00 to $585.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. JMP Securities restated a “market outperform” rating and issued a $525.00 price objective on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $522.00 to $555.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, BMO Capital Markets restated a “market perform” rating and issued a $450.00 price target on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Wednesday, June 12th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, thirty-three have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $572.51.

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.