GFS Advisors LLC Sells 522 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

GFS Advisors LLC lessened its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 2.6% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 19,911 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 522 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms comprises 2.3% of GFS Advisors LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 13th largest position. GFS Advisors LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $11,476,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Millstone Evans Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter valued at about $40,000. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter valued at about $43,000. Marshall & Sterling Wealth Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter valued at about $45,000. Stuart Chaussee & Associates Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter valued at about $47,000. Finally, Principia Wealth Advisory LLC raised its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 53.6% during the 1st quarter. Principia Wealth Advisory LLC now owns 86 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $50,000 after buying an additional 30 shares in the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

META opened at $682.35 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $618.10 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $623.14. The company has a current ratio of 2.66, a quick ratio of 2.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. The company has a market cap of $1.72 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.68 and a beta of 1.26. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12-month low of $442.65 and a 12-month high of $740.91.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The social networking company reported $6.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.33 by $1.10. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 38.69% and a net margin of 39.11%. The business had revenue of $42.31 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $41.45 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $4.71 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 16.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 26th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 16th will be given a $0.525 dividend. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.31%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 16th. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is presently 8.19%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

META has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Rosenblatt Securities lifted their price target on Meta Platforms from $846.00 to $918.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed an “underperform” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. KeyCorp lifted their price target on Meta Platforms from $645.00 to $655.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Bank of America lifted their price target on Meta Platforms from $690.00 to $765.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 12th. Finally, Pivotal Research decreased their price target on Meta Platforms from $875.00 to $830.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, thirty-seven have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $710.00.

Insider Transactions at Meta Platforms

In other news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 2,753 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $700.43, for a total value of $1,928,283.79. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 85,619 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $59,970,116.17. The trade was a 3.12% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 5,057 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $659.36, for a total value of $3,334,383.52. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief technology officer now directly owns 16,463 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,855,043.68. This represents a 23.50% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 111,031 shares of company stock valued at $73,954,565 in the last quarter. 13.61% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.