IMA Wealth Inc. Sells 106 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

IMA Wealth Inc. cut its holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 1.1% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 9,469 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 106 shares during the period. Meta Platforms comprises approximately 1.7% of IMA Wealth Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 18th largest position. IMA Wealth Inc.’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $3,352,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 7.7% in the 4th quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 451,581 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $159,841,000 after acquiring an additional 32,423 shares in the last quarter. Bank of Stockton increased its position in Meta Platforms by 9.2% in the 4th quarter. Bank of Stockton now owns 4,743 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $1,819,000 after buying an additional 400 shares in the last quarter. Signify Wealth bought a new stake in Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter valued at about $228,000. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund increased its position in Meta Platforms by 1.8% in the 4th quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund now owns 223,788 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $79,212,000 after buying an additional 4,025 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Investment Research & Advisory Group Inc. increased its position in Meta Platforms by 1.5% in the 4th quarter. Investment Research & Advisory Group Inc. now owns 10,962 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $3,880,000 after buying an additional 164 shares in the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

META stock traded up $1.91 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $443.29. 32,645,619 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 18,233,678. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.13 trillion, a PE ratio of 25.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.12 and a beta of 1.20. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 52 week low of $229.85 and a 52 week high of $531.49. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $494.48 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $404.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a quick ratio of 2.67 and a current ratio of 2.68.

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. The firm had revenue of $36.46 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $36.28 billion. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 32.06% and a return on equity of 32.03%. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 20.33 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 26th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 22nd were issued a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 21st. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.45%. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is currently 11.49%.

Insider Transactions at Meta Platforms

In other news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 585 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $491.25, for a total value of $287,381.25. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 37,228 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $18,288,255. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, COO Javier Olivan sold 490 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $488.03, for a total value of $239,134.70. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 79,944 shares in the company, valued at $39,015,070.32. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 585 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $491.25, for a total transaction of $287,381.25. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 37,228 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $18,288,255. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 1,349,148 shares of company stock valued at $649,552,559. 13.75% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently commented on META. Susquehanna boosted their target price on Meta Platforms from $400.00 to $550.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on Meta Platforms from $397.00 to $450.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on Meta Platforms from $375.00 to $550.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. Truist Financial cut their price target on Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $535.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Tigress Financial lifted their price target on Meta Platforms from $435.00 to $575.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 9th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, thirty-eight have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $509.18.

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.