Fluent Financial LLC Reduces Stock Position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Fluent Financial LLC cut its stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 12.9% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,758 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 260 shares during the period. Fluent Financial LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $854,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter worth $11,285,855,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 11,154.4% during the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 4,952,254 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $1,752,900,000 after acquiring an additional 4,908,251 shares during the period. Capital Research Global Investors increased its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 17.2% during the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 30,217,175 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $10,695,722,000 after acquiring an additional 4,440,229 shares during the period. Concentrum Wealth Management increased its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 111.0% during the fourth quarter. Concentrum Wealth Management now owns 7,391,877 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $2,616,000 after acquiring an additional 3,888,308 shares during the period. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.7% during the fourth 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 during the period. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

Shares of META opened at $509.96 on Friday. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a twelve month low of $274.38 and a twelve month high of $531.49. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $482.42 and its two-hundred day moving average is $458.78. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.29 trillion, a PE ratio of 29.29, a P/E/G ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 1.21. The company has a current ratio of 2.68, a quick ratio of 2.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The social networking company reported $4.71 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.32 by $0.39. The business had revenue of $36.46 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $36.28 billion. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 32.03% and a net margin of 32.06%. Research analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 20.15 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 14th were paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.39%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 14th. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 11.49%.

Insider Transactions at Meta Platforms

In other news, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 5,058 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $471.85, for a total transaction of $2,386,617.30. Following the sale, the chief technology officer now owns 15,412 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,272,152.20. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 5,058 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $471.85, for a total transaction of $2,386,617.30. Following the sale, the chief technology officer now owns 15,412 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,272,152.20. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 585 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $522.00, for a total value of $305,370.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 38,398 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,043,756. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 251,905 shares of company stock valued at $123,528,726 in the last quarter. 13.71% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

META has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Loop Capital reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $550.00 price objective on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Wednesday. Raymond James upped their price objective on Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $600.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on Meta Platforms from $527.00 to $588.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 16th. Robert W. Baird dropped their target price on Meta Platforms from $525.00 to $500.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 25th. Finally, Piper Sandler reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $545.00 target price (down previously from $600.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday, April 25th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, thirty-seven have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $511.27.

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.