Sentinel Pension Advisors Inc. Has $371,000 Stock Holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Sentinel Pension Advisors Inc. cut its holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 25.5% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 764 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 261 shares during the quarter. Sentinel Pension Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $371,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 18.4% during the fourth quarter. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. now owns 354 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $125,000 after buying an additional 55 shares during the last quarter. Aprio Wealth Management LLC raised its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 33.1% during the 4th quarter. Aprio Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,202 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $779,000 after acquiring an additional 547 shares during the last quarter. Red Door Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. Red Door Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,261 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $1,154,000 after purchasing an additional 39 shares during the period. Family Investment Center Inc. bought a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter worth $255,000. Finally, Atticus Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 9.2% during the fourth quarter. Atticus Wealth Management LLC now owns 876 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $310,000 after purchasing an additional 74 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have weighed in on META shares. Robert W. Baird cut their target price on Meta Platforms from $525.00 to $500.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 25th. Oppenheimer increased their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $500.00 to $525.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, July 19th. UBS Group decreased their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $610.00 to $575.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 25th. Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $570.00 target price on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities boosted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $520.00 to $562.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 25th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, thirty-five have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $525.66.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

Shares of META traded up $10.07 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $463.48. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 4,717,322 shares, compared to its average volume of 16,127,890. The company has a current ratio of 2.68, a quick ratio of 2.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1-year low of $274.38 and a 1-year high of $542.81. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $493.33 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $473.80. The stock has a market cap of $1.18 trillion, a P/E ratio of 26.53, a PEG ratio of 1.19 and a beta of 1.21.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The social networking company reported $4.71 earnings per share (EPS) 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 business had revenue of $36.46 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $36.28 billion. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 20.23 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 14th were paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.43%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 14th. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is presently 11.49%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 585 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $431.05, for a total value of $252,164.25. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 36,643 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $15,794,965.15. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 585 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $431.05, for a total value of $252,164.25. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 36,643 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $15,794,965.15. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 490 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $445.93, for a total transaction of $218,505.70. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 6,109 shares in the company, valued at $2,724,186.37. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 311,348 shares of company stock valued at $154,678,120. Company insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

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.