Gabelli Funds LLC Cuts Holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

by · The Cerbat Gem

Gabelli Funds LLC cut its stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META – Free Report) by 1.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 200,473 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 3,576 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms comprises about 0.9% of Gabelli Funds LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 20th biggest position. Gabelli Funds LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $117,379,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Howard Capital Management Group LLC grew its position in Meta Platforms by 17.9% during the 3rd quarter. Howard Capital Management Group LLC now owns 1,652 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $946,000 after purchasing an additional 251 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 6.5% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 3,368,361 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $1,928,185,000 after acquiring an additional 204,412 shares during the period. SOA Wealth Advisors LLC. raised its stake in Meta Platforms by 9.1% in the 3rd quarter. SOA Wealth Advisors LLC. now owns 3,219 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $1,842,000 after acquiring an additional 269 shares during the last quarter. Aldebaran Financial Inc. lifted its position in Meta Platforms by 10.2% during the 3rd quarter. Aldebaran Financial Inc. now owns 2,853 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $1,633,000 after acquiring an additional 264 shares during the period. Finally, Te Ahumairangi Investment Management Ltd grew its stake in Meta Platforms by 9.5% during the 3rd quarter. Te Ahumairangi Investment Management Ltd now owns 17,048 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $9,704,000 after purchasing an additional 1,480 shares during the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Meta Platforms Trading Down 2.2 %

Shares of META opened at $531.48 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.35 trillion, a P/E ratio of 22.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.28. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a twelve month low of $414.50 and a twelve month high of $740.91. The company has a current ratio of 2.98, a quick ratio of 2.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $624.88 and its 200 day simple moving average is $609.15.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META – Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The social networking company reported $8.02 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 last year, the firm earned $5.33 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th were issued a dividend of $0.525 per share. This is a positive change from Meta Platforms’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.40%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 8.78%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on META shares. Susquehanna raised their price objective on Meta Platforms from $675.00 to $800.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Wolfe Research lifted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $670.00 to $730.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Mizuho increased their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $675.00 to $750.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $630.00 to $705.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Tigress Financial reaffirmed a “strong-buy” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, thirty-five have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $692.93.

Get Our Latest Analysis on META

Insider Transactions at Meta Platforms

In other news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 921 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $543.39, for a total transaction of $500,462.19. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 29,340 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,943,062.60. This represents a 3.04 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 413 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $618.00, for a total transaction of $255,234.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 16,275 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,057,950. This trade represents a 2.47 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 450,214 shares of company stock valued at $304,162,130. Insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

About Meta Platforms

(Free Report)

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.

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