Benson Investment Management Company Inc. Has $6.50 Million Stock Holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Benson Investment Management Company Inc. reduced its holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 8.2% in Q1, now owning 11,280 shares valued at $6.50 million. Meta represents 2.8% of its portfolio, making it the 8th largest holding. The company recently reported earnings of $6.43 per share, exceeding estimates, with a revenue of $42.31 billion. Meta also announced a quarterly dividend of $0.525, payable on June 26. Institutional investors own 79.91% of the stock, with recent insider sales noted.

Benson Investment Management Company Inc. reduced its holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 8.2% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 11,280 shares of the social networking company's stock after selling 1,012 shares during the period. Meta Platforms accounts for about 2.8% of Benson Investment Management Company Inc.'s portfolio, making the stock its 8th largest holding. Benson Investment Management Company Inc.'s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $6,501,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

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Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in META. Millstone Evans Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter valued at about $40,000. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter valued at about $43,000. Marshall & Sterling Wealth Advisors Inc. bought a new position in Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter worth about $45,000. Stuart Chaussee & Associates Inc. bought a new position in Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter worth about $47,000. Finally, Conquis Financial LLC acquired a new position in Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter worth approximately $59,000. 79.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Meta Platforms Trading Down 0.6%

Shares of META stock opened at $666.85 on Wednesday. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1-year low of $442.65 and a 1-year 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 has a market cap of $1.68 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.88, a PEG ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.24. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $581.05 and a 200-day moving average of $612.48.

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Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The social networking company reported $6.43 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $5.33 by $1.10. The business had revenue of $42.31 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $41.45 billion. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 37.91% and a return on equity of 38.17%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 16.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $4.71 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 26th. Investors of record on Monday, June 16th will be issued a $0.525 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 16th. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.31%. Meta Platforms's payout ratio is 8.19%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Meta Platforms

Meta's Institutional & Insider Data Fuels Bulls Despite Disparity

In other news, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 5,057 shares of the business's 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 transaction, the chief technology officer now directly owns 16,463 shares of the company's stock, valued at $10,855,043.68. The trade was a 23.50% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CFO Susan J. Li sold 6,874 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $659.36, for a total value of $4,532,440.64. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 70,040 shares of the company's stock, valued at $46,181,574.40. This represents a 8.94% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 55,135 shares of company stock valued at $34,481,779. 13.61% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

META has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Piper Sandler raised their price objective on Meta Platforms from $610.00 to $650.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Tigress Financial reiterated a "strong-buy" rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. Benchmark decreased their price objective on Meta Platforms from $820.00 to $640.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on Meta Platforms from $615.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Roth Capital increased their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $580.00 to $620.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, thirty-seven have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $701.05.

View Our Latest Report on META

Meta Platforms Profile

(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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