B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. Sells 6,300 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. cut its stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 6.6% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 89,582 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 6,300 shares during the period. Meta Platforms makes up about 0.9% of B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 11th biggest holding. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $31,708,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of META. Stone House Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 625.0% in the third quarter. Stone House Investment Management LLC now owns 87 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 75 shares during the last quarter. Quest Partners LLC bought a new stake in Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter valued at $32,000. Clear Investment Research LLC grew its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 411.1% during the 4th quarter. Clear Investment Research LLC now owns 92 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 74 shares in the last quarter. Gilfoyle & Co LLC bought a new position in Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter worth about $39,000. Finally, Cranbrook Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 80.4% in the 4th quarter. Cranbrook Wealth Management LLC now owns 101 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 45 shares in the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 16,702 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, June 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $503.34, for a total transaction of $8,406,784.68. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 275,297 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $138,567,991.98. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 16,702 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $503.34, for a total value of $8,406,784.68. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 275,297 shares in the company, valued at approximately $138,567,991.98. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 490 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $507.00, for a total transaction of $248,430.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 9,049 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,587,843. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 422,564 shares of company stock worth $208,591,435 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

Shares of META stock opened at $506.63 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $1.29 trillion, a P/E ratio of 29.10, a P/E/G ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 1.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a quick ratio of 2.68 and a current ratio of 2.68. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a one year low of $274.38 and a one year high of $531.49. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $480.14 and its 200-day moving average price is $444.30.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last posted 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $36.28 billion. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 20.16 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 14th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.39%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 11.49%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have issued reports on META. TD Cowen dropped their target price on Meta Platforms from $590.00 to $530.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. Rosenblatt Securities raised their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $520.00 to $562.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 25th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on Meta Platforms from $609.00 to $600.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price target on Meta Platforms from $555.00 to $500.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 25th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed a “market perform” rating and issued a $450.00 price objective on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Wednesday, June 12th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, thirty-seven have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $510.41.

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.