Bailard Inc. Sells 3,182 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Bailard Inc. cut its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 4.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 70,698 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 3,182 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms makes up 0.7% of Bailard Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 29th largest position. Bailard Inc.’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $25,024,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Stone House Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 625.0% in the 3rd quarter. Stone House Investment Management LLC now owns 87 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 75 shares during the period. Gilfoyle & Co LLC bought a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter valued at about $39,000. Cranbrook Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings 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 valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 45 shares during the period. Beaird Harris Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 68.9% in the 3rd quarter. Beaird Harris Wealth Management LLC now owns 103 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 42 shares during the period. Finally, PayPay Securities Corp raised its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 65.2% in the 3rd quarter. PayPay Securities Corp now owns 109 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 43 shares during the period. 79.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, COO Javier Olivan sold 490 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $501.18, for a total transaction of $245,578.20. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 7,089 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,552,865.02. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, COO Javier Olivan sold 490 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $501.18, for a total transaction of $245,578.20. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 7,089 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,552,865.02. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 8,036 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $473.28, for a total transaction of $3,803,278.08. Following the sale, the chief technology officer now directly owns 18,432 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,723,496.96. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 1,368,244 shares of company stock valued at $657,034,449. Insiders own 14.03% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

NASDAQ:META traded down $2.60 on Wednesday, hitting $493.50. The company had a trading volume of 36,273,029 shares, compared to its average volume of 17,341,254. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.26 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.12, a PEG ratio of 1.23 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a current ratio of 2.67, a quick ratio of 2.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $495.93 and a two-hundred day moving average of $403.14. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 52 week low of $207.13 and a 52 week high of $531.49.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 1st. The social networking company reported $5.33 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.82 by $0.51. The business had revenue of $40.11 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $39.12 billion. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 28.98% and a return on equity of 29.48%. The firm’s revenue was up 24.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $3.00 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 20.18 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 26th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 22nd were paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.41%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 21st. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is currently 13.42%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Evercore ISI upped their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $425.00 to $550.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, February 2nd. Roth Mkm reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $500.00 price target on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Monday, March 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $420.00 to $535.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, February 2nd. TD Cowen increased their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $415.00 to $500.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, February 2nd. Finally, Barclays increased their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $400.00 to $550.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, February 2nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, thirty-eight have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $520.28.

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.