Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) Holdings Trimmed by Avory & Company LLC

Avory & Company LLC reduced its stake in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 33.7% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 18,918 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 9,621 shares during the period. Meta Platforms makes up about 6.3% of Avory & Company LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 7th largest position. Avory & Company LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $9,186,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in META. Modera Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 8.5% in the 3rd quarter. Modera Wealth Management LLC now owns 7,775 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $2,334,000 after buying an additional 607 shares in the last quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in Meta Platforms by 180.1% in the 3rd quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. now owns 902 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $271,000 after purchasing an additional 580 shares during the last quarter. Financial Insights Inc. acquired a new position in Meta Platforms in the 3rd quarter valued at about $719,000. Dagco Inc. raised its stake in Meta Platforms by 4,788.7% in the 3rd quarter. Dagco Inc. now owns 52,847 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $15,865,000 after purchasing an additional 51,766 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sunbelt Securities Inc. raised its stake in Meta Platforms by 3.6% in the 3rd quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 11,021 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $3,309,000 after purchasing an additional 378 shares during the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Meta Platforms

In related news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 16,702 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $533.87, for a total value of $8,916,696.74. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 151,918 shares in the company, valued at approximately $81,104,462.66. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other Meta Platforms news, Director Sheryl Sandberg sold 105,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $476.71, for a total transaction of $50,054,550.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 630,293 shares in the company, valued at approximately $300,466,976.03. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 16,702 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $533.87, for a total value of $8,916,696.74. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 151,918 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $81,104,462.66. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 294,768 shares of company stock worth $146,314,257 in the last quarter. 13.71% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Sanford C. Bernstein cut their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $590.00 to $565.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 25th. Guggenheim dropped their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $520.00 to $500.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 25th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $540.00 to $500.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 25th. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $585.00 to $540.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 25th. Finally, Piper Sandler reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $545.00 price objective (down previously from $600.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday, April 25th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, thirty-seven have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $515.64.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ META opened at $534.04 on Thursday. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1-year low of $274.38 and a 1-year high of $542.81. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a current ratio of 2.68 and a quick ratio of 2.68. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $490.20 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $464.66. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.35 trillion, a PE ratio of 30.71, a P/E/G ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 1.21.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The social networking company reported $4.71 earnings per share 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 business had revenue of $36.46 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $36.28 billion. On average, research analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 20.15 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 26th. Investors of record on Friday, June 14th were paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 14th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.37%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is currently 11.49%.

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.