Baxter Bros Inc. Sells 301 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Baxter Bros Inc. reduced its stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 0.8% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 37,824 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 301 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms comprises 2.9% of Baxter Bros Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 10th largest position. Baxter Bros Inc.’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $22,146,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. JDM Financial Group LLC bought a new position in Meta Platforms during the third quarter worth about $30,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC bought a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the third quarter worth approximately $36,000. Millstone Evans Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $40,000. Avondale Wealth Management bought a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $41,000. Finally, Cordant Inc. acquired a new stake in Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter worth approximately $59,000. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

NASDAQ:META opened at $610.98 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 2.98, a current ratio of 2.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a twelve month low of $414.50 and a twelve month high of $740.91. The company has a fifty day moving average of $656.12 and a 200-day moving average of $608.02. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.55 trillion, a P/E ratio of 25.54, a P/E/G ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.23.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The social networking company reported $8.02 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $6.75 by $1.27. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 37.91% and a return on equity of 38.17%. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $5.33 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th were issued a $0.525 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.34%. This is a positive change from Meta Platforms’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is presently 8.78%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Benchmark raised Meta Platforms from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $820.00 price objective for the company in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $700.00 to $800.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Argus set a $775.00 price objective on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. KeyCorp dropped their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $750.00 to $710.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, March 18th. Finally, Barclays increased their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $630.00 to $705.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, thirty-five have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $718.31.

Insider Buying and Selling at Meta Platforms

In related news, COO Javier Olivan sold 413 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction on Monday, December 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $589.16, for a total value of $243,323.08. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 17,514 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,318,548.24. This trade represents a 2.30 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Susan J. Li sold 8,553 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Saturday, February 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $736.67, for a total transaction of $6,300,738.51. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 51,793 shares in the company, valued at approximately $38,154,349.31. The trade was a 14.17 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 586,213 shares of company stock valued at $387,084,349. Company insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

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.