Callahan Advisors LLC Sells 2,541 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Callahan Advisors LLC lessened its stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 2.1% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 117,266 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 2,541 shares during the period. Meta Platforms comprises approximately 6.1% of Callahan Advisors LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its largest position. Callahan Advisors LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $59,128,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Delos Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position 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 worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 58 shares in the last quarter. POM Investment Strategies LLC acquired a new stake in Meta Platforms during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $38,000. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 122.2% during the 2nd quarter. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. now owns 80 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $40,000 after buying an additional 44 shares in the last quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. boosted its position in Meta Platforms by 95.6% in the 1st quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. now owns 88 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $41,000 after buying an additional 43 shares during the period. Finally, Quest Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter worth $32,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

Meta Platforms stock opened at $521.31 on Friday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $504.85 and a 200-day simple moving average of $492.74. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12 month low of $279.40 and a 12 month high of $544.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a current ratio of 2.83 and a quick ratio of 2.68. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.32 trillion, a PE ratio of 29.94, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 1.21.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 company 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%. Meta Platforms’s quarterly revenue was up 22.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $3.23 EPS. Equities analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 20.5 earnings per share for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on META. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on Meta Platforms from $522.00 to $555.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Meta Platforms from $480.00 to $610.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. JMP Securities reissued a “market outperform” rating and set a $525.00 price objective on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Tuesday, July 30th. Piper Sandler raised their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $545.00 to $575.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reiterated an “underperform” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, thirty-two have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $574.41.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, COO Javier Olivan sold 413 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $536.92, for a total value of $221,747.96. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 14,424 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,744,534.08. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, COO Javier Olivan sold 413 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $536.92, for a total value of $221,747.96. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 14,424 shares in the company, valued at $7,744,534.08. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $477.00, for a total transaction of $431,685.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 41,465 shares in the company, valued at $19,778,805. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 388,078 shares of company stock worth $200,792,168. Company insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

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.