Capital Group Private Client Services Inc. Cuts Stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Capital Group Private Client Services Inc. lessened its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 0.4% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 249,299 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 955 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms comprises approximately 1.3% of Capital Group Private Client Services Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 15th biggest position. Capital Group Private Client Services Inc.’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $145,967,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Millstone Evans Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter worth $40,000. Avondale Wealth Management purchased a new position in Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter worth $41,000. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter worth about $43,000. Cordant Inc. purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter valued at about $59,000. Finally, Conquis Financial LLC purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter valued at about $59,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Meta Platforms news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $618.00, for a total transaction of $559,290.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 30,200 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $18,663,600. This trade represents a 2.91 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 55,589 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $717.72, for a total value of $39,897,337.08. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 379,901 shares of company stock worth $260,806,516. Insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Trading Down 0.2 %

META opened at $501.48 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.27 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.28. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $612.51 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $607.32. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1-year low of $414.50 and a 1-year high of $740.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 2.98 and a quick ratio of 2.98.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The social networking company reported $8.02 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.75 by $1.27. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 38.17% and a net margin of 37.91%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $5.33 EPS. Analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th were given a dividend of $0.525 per share. This is a boost from Meta Platforms’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.42%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 8.78%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the company. Wolfe Research lifted their target price on Meta Platforms from $670.00 to $730.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 3rd. JMP Securities restated a “market outperform” rating and set a $750.00 price objective on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Citigroup cut their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $780.00 to $655.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday. Bank of America decreased their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $765.00 to $640.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $725.00 to $600.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 7th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, thirty-five have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Meta Platforms currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $684.10.

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.