Eagle Ridge Investment Management Sells 2,020 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Eagle Ridge Investment Management cut its stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 2.2% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 90,751 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 2,020 shares during the period. Meta Platforms accounts for approximately 3.2% of Eagle Ridge Investment Management’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 7th largest holding. Eagle Ridge Investment Management’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $32,122,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Merrion Investment Management Co LLC bought a new position in Meta Platforms during the third quarter valued at about $240,000. ACT Advisors LLC. bought a new position in Meta Platforms during the third quarter valued at about $238,000. Solidarity Wealth LLC bought a new position in Meta Platforms during the third quarter valued at about $5,119,000. Trust Co. of Toledo NA OH boosted its stake in Meta Platforms by 15.4% during the third quarter. Trust Co. of Toledo NA OH now owns 5,656 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $1,698,000 after buying an additional 755 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Lineweaver Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in Meta Platforms during the third quarter valued at about $423,000. 79.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

META traded down $11.97 during trading on Monday, hitting $431.32. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 15,821,314 shares, compared to its average volume of 18,355,781. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $494.48 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $405.39. The company has a quick ratio of 2.68, a current ratio of 2.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12 month low of $229.85 and a 12 month high of $531.49. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.10 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.89, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.15 and a beta of 1.20.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 24th. The social networking company reported $4.71 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.32 by $0.39. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 32.03% and a net margin of 32.06%. The firm had revenue of $36.46 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $36.28 billion. Sell-side analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 20.2 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 26th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 22nd were paid a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 21st. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.46%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 11.49%.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 585 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $491.25, for a total value of $287,381.25. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 37,228 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $18,288,255. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 19,681 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $393.85, for a total transaction of $7,751,361.85. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 585 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $491.25, for a total value of $287,381.25. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 37,228 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $18,288,255. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 1,277,048 shares of company stock valued at $620,679,759. Company insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently weighed in on META. Truist Financial decreased their target price on Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $535.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday. JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market outperform” rating and set a $550.00 target price on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Monday, April 22nd. Benchmark reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Monday, April 22nd. Guggenheim reduced their price objective on Meta Platforms from $520.00 to $500.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Barclays reduced their price objective on Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $520.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, thirty-seven have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $509.18.

Meta Platforms Company 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.