Clearstead Trust LLC Sells 2,580 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Clearstead Trust LLC decreased its position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 56.6% during the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 1,978 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 2,580 shares during the period. Clearstead Trust LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $960,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Delos Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 527.3% in the 1st quarter. Delos Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 69 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $34,000 after buying an additional 58 shares during the period. Richardson Financial Services Inc. lifted its position 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 acquiring an additional 43 shares in the last quarter. Quest Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter valued at $32,000. Kathleen S. Wright Associates Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the first quarter valued at $44,000. Finally, Clear Investment Research LLC raised its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 411.1% during 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 during the period. 79.91% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have commented on META shares. Truist Financial cut their target price on Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $535.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 25th. Oppenheimer boosted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $500.00 to $525.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday. BNP Paribas assumed coverage on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday, May 2nd. They set an “underperform” rating and a $360.00 target price on the stock. Roth Mkm raised their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $500.00 to $510.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 25th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $570.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, thirty-six have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Meta Platforms presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $519.10.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 1,712 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $502.27, for a total transaction of $859,886.24. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 129,888 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $65,238,845.76. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 1,712 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $502.27, for a total value of $859,886.24. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 129,888 shares in the company, valued at $65,238,845.76. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Susan J. Li sold 8,951 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 15th. The shares were 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 owns 74,580 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $35,190,573. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 311,106 shares of company stock worth $154,542,945 in the last three months. 13.71% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

META stock traded up $0.94 during trading on Friday, reaching $476.79. The stock had a trading volume of 15,149,416 shares, compared to its average volume of 13,694,282. The firm has a market cap of $1.21 trillion, a PE ratio of 27.39, a PEG ratio of 1.23 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. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $493.41 and its two-hundred day moving average is $471.18. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 52 week low of $274.38 and a 52 week high of $542.81.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The social networking company reported $4.71 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.32 by $0.39. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 32.06% and a return on equity of 32.03%. The business had revenue of $36.46 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $36.28 billion. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 20.21 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 14th were given a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 14th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.42%. 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.