Smith Salley Wealth Management Has $37.95 Million Stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Smith Salley Wealth Management lifted its stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 7.5% during the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 75,260 shares of the social networking company’s stock after purchasing an additional 5,227 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms comprises about 2.7% of Smith Salley Wealth Management’s holdings, making the stock its 7th biggest position. Smith Salley Wealth Management’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $37,947,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Washington Trust Bank increased its holdings in Meta Platforms by 5.1% in the 2nd quarter. Washington Trust Bank now owns 23,294 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $11,745,000 after acquiring an additional 1,124 shares in the last quarter. Blackhawk Capital Partners LLC. boosted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 3.9% in the second quarter. Blackhawk Capital Partners LLC. now owns 16,244 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $8,191,000 after purchasing an additional 617 shares during the period. Highview Capital Management LLC DE increased its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 4.0% in the second quarter. Highview Capital Management LLC DE now owns 5,745 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $2,897,000 after purchasing an additional 220 shares in the last quarter. Armbruster Capital Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 5.1% during the 2nd quarter. Armbruster Capital Management Inc. now owns 598 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $302,000 after purchasing an additional 29 shares during the period. Finally, Nations Financial Group Inc. IA ADV lifted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 29.9% during the 2nd quarter. Nations Financial Group Inc. IA ADV now owns 18,763 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $9,461,000 after buying an additional 4,319 shares in the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the company. UBS Group raised 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. Wolfe Research began coverage on Meta Platforms in a research note on Tuesday, July 16th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $620.00 target price on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $590.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Sanford C. Bernstein lifted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $565.00 to $575.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, July 22nd. Finally, Bank of America upped their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $563.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating, thirty-two have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $574.41.

Meta Platforms Stock Up 0.6 %

Shares of META opened at $521.31 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $504.85 and a 200-day moving average price of $492.74. The company has a current ratio of 2.83, a quick ratio of 2.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.32 trillion, a P/E ratio of 29.94, a P/E/G ratio of 1.27 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 released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 31st. The social networking company reported $5.16 earnings per share (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 analysts’ expectations of $38.26 billion. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 34.34% and a return on equity of 34.16%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 22.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $3.23 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 20.5 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Meta Platforms news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 2,011 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $500.92, for a total value of $1,007,350.12. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 318,932 shares in the company, valued at approximately $159,759,417.44. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In related news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $477.00, for a total transaction of $431,685.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 41,465 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $19,778,805. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 2,011 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $500.92, for a total transaction of $1,007,350.12. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 318,932 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $159,759,417.44. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 388,078 shares of company stock valued at $200,792,168 over the last quarter. 13.71% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Meta Platforms Profile

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.