Canopy Partners LLC Has $4.95 Million Holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Canopy Partners LLC lessened its stake in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 1.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 8,453 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 83 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms comprises approximately 1.9% of Canopy Partners LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 13th largest position. Canopy Partners LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $4,949,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. JDM Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the third quarter valued at about $30,000. Millstone Evans Group LLC bought a new position in Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter worth $40,000. Avondale Wealth Management bought a new stake in Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter valued at $41,000. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter worth about $43,000. Finally, Cordant Inc. acquired a new stake in Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter worth about $59,000. Institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Trading Down 5.1 %

Shares of NASDAQ:META opened at $504.73 on Monday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $648.15 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $610.77. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a one year low of $414.50 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 stock has a market capitalization of $1.28 trillion, a PE ratio of 21.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.28.

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 analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.75 by $1.27. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 38.17% and a net margin of 37.91%. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $5.33 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th were issued a $0.525 dividend. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.42%. This is a boost from Meta Platforms’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is presently 8.78%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have commented on META shares. Scotiabank upped their price target on Meta Platforms from $583.00 to $627.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Arete Research raised Meta Platforms to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Truist Financial boosted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $700.00 to $770.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $630.00 to $705.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, DA Davidson increased their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $700.00 to $800.00 and gave the stock a “buy” 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Meta Platforms currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $718.55.

Insider Activity at Meta Platforms

In other Meta Platforms news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $631.55, for a total transaction of $571,552.75. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 32,010 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,215,915.50. The trade was a 2.75 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 35,921 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $611.10, for a total transaction of $21,951,323.10. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 535,725 shares of company stock worth $356,391,449. Insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

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.