Obermeyer Wealth Partners Sells 2,180 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Obermeyer Wealth Partners cut its stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 2.6% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 82,373 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 2,180 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms accounts for about 2.5% of Obermeyer Wealth Partners’ portfolio, making the stock its 11th biggest position. Obermeyer Wealth Partners’ holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $48,230,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in META. Millstone Evans Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $40,000. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter valued at $43,000. Marshall & Sterling Wealth Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter worth approximately $45,000. Cordant Inc. bought a new position in Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter valued at about $59,000. Finally, Conquis Financial LLC bought a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter worth approximately $59,000. 79.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Meta Platforms

In other news, COO Javier Olivan sold 406 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $491.69, for a total value of $199,626.14. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 4,608 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,265,707.52. This represents a 8.10% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 921 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $592.52, for a total transaction of $545,710.92. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 25,656 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,201,693.12. This trade represents a 3.47% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 118,992 shares of company stock valued at $82,831,650 in the last three months. 13.71% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

META has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Arete Research upgraded Meta Platforms to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Benchmark lowered their target price on Meta Platforms from $820.00 to $640.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $752.00 to $664.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Pivotal Research lowered their price objective on Meta Platforms from $875.00 to $830.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $615.00 to $650.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, thirty-seven have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $696.45.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:META opened at $639.43 on Tuesday. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $568.53 and its 200-day moving average price is $605.22. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a one year low of $442.65 and a one year high of $740.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 2.98 and a quick ratio of 2.98. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.62 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.73, a PEG ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.24.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The social networking company reported $6.43 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.33 by $1.10. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 38.17% and a net margin of 37.91%. The business had revenue of $42.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $41.45 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $4.71 EPS. Meta Platforms’s quarterly revenue was up 16.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th were paid a $0.525 dividend. This is a positive change from Meta Platforms’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.33%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is 8.19%.

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.