Guyasuta Investment Advisors Inc. Decreases Stock Position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Guyasuta Investment Advisors Inc. lowered its stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 0.6% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 5,861 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 36 shares during the quarter. Guyasuta Investment Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $2,846,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Sherbrooke Park Advisers LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the 3rd quarter valued at about $655,000. Waverly Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Meta Platforms by 55.2% during the 3rd quarter. Waverly Advisors LLC now owns 4,985 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $1,497,000 after purchasing an additional 1,772 shares during the last quarter. Hodges Capital Management Inc. bought a new position in Meta Platforms during the 3rd quarter valued at about $2,116,000. Gallagher Fiduciary Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Meta Platforms by 24.3% during the 3rd quarter. Gallagher Fiduciary Advisors LLC now owns 2,233 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $670,000 after purchasing an additional 436 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Gateway Advisory LLC grew its holdings in Meta Platforms by 101.7% during the 3rd quarter. Gateway Advisory LLC now owns 2,088 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $627,000 after purchasing an additional 1,053 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

Shares of META opened at $504.22 on Friday. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1-year low of $274.38 and a 1-year high of $531.49. The stock has a market cap of $1.28 trillion, a PE ratio of 28.96, a P/E/G ratio of 1.35 and a beta of 1.21. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $480.00 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $453.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a current ratio of 2.68 and a quick ratio of 2.68.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The social networking company reported $4.71 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.32 by $0.39. The business had revenue of $36.46 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $36.28 billion. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 32.06% and a return on equity of 32.03%. As a group, analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 20.16 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 26th. Investors of record on Friday, June 14th were issued a $0.50 dividend. 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 Friday, June 14th. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 11.49%.

Insider Activity at Meta Platforms

In related news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 31,465 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $491.49, for a total value of $15,464,732.85. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other Meta Platforms news, Director Sheryl Sandberg sold 105,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $476.71, for a total transaction of $50,054,550.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 630,293 shares in the company, valued at approximately $300,466,976.03. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 31,465 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $491.49, for a total transaction of $15,464,732.85. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 233,512 shares of company stock worth $113,597,536. Corporate insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have commented on the stock. Roth Mkm upped their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $500.00 to $510.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 25th. Loop Capital decreased their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $555.00 to $550.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, May 1st. Benchmark reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Monday, April 22nd. Raymond James raised their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $525.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 5th. Finally, Robert W. Baird decreased their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $525.00 to $500.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 25th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, thirty-seven have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $510.05.

Meta Platforms Company 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.