Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) Stock Position Lowered by AdvisorShares Investments LLC

AdvisorShares Investments LLC lessened its position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 5.2% during the second quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 948 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 52 shares during the quarter. AdvisorShares Investments LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $478,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Greenwood Gearhart Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.8% in the 2nd quarter. Greenwood Gearhart Inc. now owns 25,600 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $12,908,000 after acquiring an additional 207 shares during the last quarter. Biltmore Family Office LLC grew its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.8% in the 2nd quarter. Biltmore Family Office LLC now owns 2,945 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $1,485,000 after acquiring an additional 52 shares during the last quarter. AGF Management Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 20.7% in the 2nd quarter. AGF Management Ltd. now owns 9,503 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $4,792,000 after acquiring an additional 1,627 shares during the last quarter. South Street Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 74.5% in the 2nd quarter. South Street Advisors LLC now owns 28,967 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $14,606,000 after acquiring an additional 12,370 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Angeles Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 15.5% in the 2nd quarter. Angeles Wealth Management LLC now owns 8,195 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $4,132,000 after acquiring an additional 1,098 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Meta Platforms

In other news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 901 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $15,034,122.60. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 901 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $15,034,122.60. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Susan J. Li sold 8,950 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $526.76, for a total value of $4,714,502.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 74,579 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $39,285,234.04. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 357,574 shares of company stock valued at $185,587,773. Corporate insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

META has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Evercore ISI lifted their target price on Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $600.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Piper Sandler lifted their target price on Meta Platforms from $545.00 to $575.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Meta Platforms from $480.00 to $610.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. UBS Group lifted their price target on Meta Platforms from $630.00 to $635.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, Guggenheim lifted their price target on Meta Platforms from $500.00 to $600.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating, thirty-four have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $577.26.

Meta Platforms Trading Down 0.2 %

Meta Platforms stock opened at $524.62 on Friday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $505.13 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $495.43. 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 stock has a market cap of $1.33 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 1.21. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12 month low of $279.40 and a 12 month high of $544.23.

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

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 26th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 16th will be issued a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 16th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.38%. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is presently 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.