Palouse Capital Management Inc. Sells 166 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Palouse Capital Management Inc. lessened its stake in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 4.9% in the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,231 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 166 shares during the quarter. Palouse Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $1,629,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Delos Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Meta Platforms by 527.3% during the first quarter. Delos Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 69 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 58 shares during the period. POM Investment Strategies LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the 2nd quarter valued at about $38,000. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 122.2% during the 2nd quarter. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. now owns 80 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $40,000 after acquiring an additional 44 shares during the last quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 95.6% during the first quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. now owns 88 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $41,000 after purchasing an additional 43 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Quest Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter worth approximately $32,000. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

META has been the subject of a number of research reports. Piper Sandler boosted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $545.00 to $575.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $565.00 to $600.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Guggenheim raised their price target on Meta Platforms from $500.00 to $600.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Barclays lifted their price target on Meta Platforms from $520.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price objective on Meta Platforms from $525.00 to $585.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, thirty-four have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $577.26.

Insider Buying and Selling at Meta Platforms

In other news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 9,760 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, June 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $502.87, for a total transaction of $4,908,011.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 247,915 shares in the company, valued at $124,669,016.05. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Meta Platforms news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 9,760 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $502.87, for a total transaction of $4,908,011.20. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 247,915 shares in the company, valued at approximately $124,669,016.05. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $537.72, for a total transaction of $486,636.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 36,912 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $19,848,320.64. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 356,426 shares of company stock worth $185,053,425. 13.71% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Meta Platforms Stock Up 0.4 %

NASDAQ:META opened at $561.35 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a current ratio of 2.83 and a quick ratio of 2.83. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $507.58 and its 200-day moving average price is $497.22. The company has a market capitalization of $1.42 trillion, a PE ratio of 32.24, a P/E/G ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 1.21. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1-year low of $279.40 and a 1-year high of $564.50.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 31st. The social networking company reported $5.16 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.70 by $0.46. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 34.34% and a return on equity of 34.16%. The business had revenue of $39.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $38.26 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $3.23 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 22.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 21.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 26th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 16th will be paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.36%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 16th. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is 11.49%.

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.