Opinicus Capital Inc. Trims Position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Opinicus Capital Inc. trimmed its stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 10.1% in the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 2,251 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 253 shares during the period. Opinicus Capital Inc.’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $1,093,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Beaird Harris Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 68.9% in the third quarter. Beaird Harris Wealth Management LLC now owns 103 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 42 shares in the last quarter. Quest Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter valued at about $32,000. Clear Investment Research LLC raised its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 411.1% in the 4th quarter. Clear Investment Research LLC now owns 92 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 74 shares in the last quarter. Cranbrook Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 80.4% in the 4th quarter. Cranbrook Wealth Management LLC now owns 101 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 45 shares during the period. Finally, Gilfoyle & Co LLC bought a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $39,000. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Meta Platforms

In other news, CFO Susan J. Li sold 8,951 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $471.85, for a total transaction of $4,223,529.35. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 74,580 shares in the company, valued at approximately $35,190,573. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Meta Platforms news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 585 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $431.05, for a total transaction of $252,164.25. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 36,643 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $15,794,965.15. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CFO Susan J. Li sold 8,951 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $471.85, for a total value of $4,223,529.35. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 74,580 shares in the company, valued at $35,190,573. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 233,512 shares of company stock worth $113,597,536. 13.71% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

NASDAQ META opened at $504.22 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.28 trillion, a P/E ratio of 28.96, a PEG ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 1.21. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $480.00 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $454.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a quick ratio of 2.68 and a current ratio of 2.68. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $274.38 and a fifty-two week high of $531.49.

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 the consensus estimate of $4.32 by $0.39. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 32.03% and a net margin of 32.06%. The company had revenue of $36.46 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $36.28 billion. On average, equities analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 20.16 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. Investors of record on Friday, June 14th were issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.40%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 14th. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 11.49%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

META has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Benchmark reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price objective on Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $570.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 25th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on Meta Platforms from $609.00 to $600.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. Oppenheimer decreased their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $585.00 to $500.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. Finally, Robert W. Baird lowered their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $525.00 to $500.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 25th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, thirty-seven have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $510.05.

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.