Seaport Global Advisors LLC Sells 446 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Seaport Global Advisors LLC lessened its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 13.1% during the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 2,952 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 446 shares during the period. Meta Platforms comprises 5.3% of Seaport Global Advisors LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 2nd largest holding. Seaport Global Advisors LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $1,488,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in META. Vantage Financial Partners LLC boosted its position in Meta Platforms by 3.2% in the 4th quarter. Vantage Financial Partners LLC now owns 1,323 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $468,000 after buying an additional 41 shares during the last quarter. Concentrum Wealth Management boosted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 111.0% in the fourth quarter. Concentrum Wealth Management now owns 7,391,877 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $2,616,000 after acquiring an additional 3,888,308 shares during the last quarter. Aveo Capital Partners LLC increased its position in Meta Platforms by 45.7% in the fourth quarter. Aveo Capital Partners LLC now owns 2,302 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $815,000 after purchasing an additional 722 shares during the period. 9258 Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in Meta Platforms by 66.4% during the 4th quarter. 9258 Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,993 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $1,413,000 after purchasing an additional 1,594 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Rollins Financial lifted its position in Meta Platforms by 7.5% during the 4th quarter. Rollins Financial now owns 30,657 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $10,851,000 after purchasing an additional 2,133 shares during the period. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on META shares. Loop Capital lifted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $575.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 6th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $522.00 to $555.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Benchmark reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. Evercore ISI raised their price target on Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $600.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $590.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, thirty-four have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $591.23.

Insider Transactions at Meta Platforms

In related news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $500.57, for a total value of $453,015.85. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 37,845 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,944,071.65. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 150 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $500.49, for a total transaction of $75,073.50. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 124,387 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $62,254,449.63. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $500.57, for a total value of $453,015.85. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 37,845 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $18,944,071.65. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 325,656 shares of company stock worth $171,028,659 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

NASDAQ:META opened at $567.36 on Monday. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 52-week low of $279.40 and a 52-week high of $577.40. The company has a market cap of $1.44 trillion, a P/E ratio of 32.59, a P/E/G ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 1.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a quick ratio of 2.83 and a current ratio of 2.83. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $516.19 and its 200 day simple moving average is $499.63.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 company had revenue of $39.07 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $38.26 billion. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 34.16% and a net margin of 34.34%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 22.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $3.23 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 21.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 26th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 16th were given a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.35%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 16th. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.