Ellis Investment Partners LLC Sells 29 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Ellis Investment Partners LLC trimmed its holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 1.8% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,611 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 29 shares during the period. Ellis Investment Partners LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $928,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Inlight Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the first quarter worth $25,000. Millstone Evans Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter worth $40,000. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter worth $43,000. Marshall & Sterling Wealth Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter worth $45,000. Finally, Stuart Chaussee & Associates Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter worth $47,000. 79.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 8,312 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $702.13, for a total value of $5,836,104.56. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 88,372 shares in the company, valued at $62,048,632.36. This represents a 8.60% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 406 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $491.69, for a total transaction of $199,626.14. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 4,608 shares in the company, valued at $2,265,707.52. This represents a 8.10% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 110,002 shares of company stock valued at $73,353,340 in the last 90 days. 13.61% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Cantor Fitzgerald boosted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $676.00 to $807.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 18th. Bank of America upped their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $690.00 to $765.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 12th. Evercore ISI upped their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $725.00 to $750.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Monness Crespi & Hardt upped their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $775.00 to $780.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Susquehanna cut their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $800.00 to $700.00 and set a “positive” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, thirty-seven have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $710.00.

Meta Platforms Stock Up 2.4%

Shares of NASDAQ:META opened at $698.53 on Tuesday. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12 month low of $442.65 and a 12 month high of $740.91. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $621.44 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $623.76. The company has a quick ratio of 2.66, a current ratio of 2.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. The firm has a market cap of $1.76 trillion, a P/E ratio of 27.24, a P/E/G ratio of 1.68 and a beta of 1.26.

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

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 26th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 16th will be issued a dividend of $0.525 per share. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.30%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 16th. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is currently 8.19%.

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.