Fiducient Advisors LLC Cuts Stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Fiducient Advisors LLC lowered its position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 49.9% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 2,254 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 2,244 shares during the quarter. Fiducient Advisors LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $1,137,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Delos Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 527.3% during the first quarter. Delos Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 69 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 58 shares during the period. POM Investment Strategies LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the second quarter valued at approximately $38,000. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 122.2% during the second quarter. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. now owns 80 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $40,000 after purchasing an additional 44 shares during the period. Richardson Financial Services Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 95.6% during the first quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. now owns 88 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $41,000 after purchasing an additional 43 shares during the period. Finally, Quest Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Meta Platforms news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 901 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $451.15, for a total value of $406,486.15. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 33,324 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $15,034,122.60. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other Meta Platforms news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 16,702 shares of the firm’s 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 275,297 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $138,567,991.98. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 901 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $451.15, for a total value of $406,486.15. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 33,324 shares in the company, valued at $15,034,122.60. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 373,371 shares of company stock valued at $193,535,153. Insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

Shares of META stock opened at $511.83 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 2.83, a current ratio of 2.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $505.12 and a 200-day moving average price of $494.86. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 52 week low of $279.40 and a 52 week high of $544.23. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.29 trillion, a PE ratio of 29.40, a P/E/G ratio of 1.23 and a beta of 1.21.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The social networking company reported $5.16 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.70 by $0.46. The business had revenue of $39.07 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $38.26 billion. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 34.34% and a return on equity of 34.16%. The firm’s revenue was up 22.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $3.23 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 21.36 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 26th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 16th will be issued a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.39%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 16th. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is 11.49%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on META shares. Cantor Fitzgerald started coverage on Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday, September 5th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $660.00 price objective for the company. DA Davidson initiated coverage on Meta Platforms in a report on Tuesday. They set a “buy” rating and a $600.00 target price for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Meta Platforms from $480.00 to $610.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Barclays upped their target price on Meta Platforms from $520.00 to $550.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on Meta Platforms from $565.00 to $600.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, thirty-four have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $577.26.

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.