Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) Shares Sold by Prairie Wealth Advisors Inc.

Prairie Wealth Advisors Inc. lowered its stake in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 24.4% during the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 2,016 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 650 shares during the period. Prairie Wealth Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $1,017,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Quest Partners LLC acquired a new position in Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter worth $32,000. Clear Investment Research LLC raised its position in Meta Platforms by 411.1% in the fourth quarter. Clear Investment Research LLC now owns 92 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 74 shares during the period. Delos Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in Meta Platforms by 527.3% in 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 Meta Platforms in the second quarter valued at $38,000. Finally, Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. raised its position in Meta Platforms by 122.2% in 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. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Meta Platforms

In related news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 16,702 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $514.96, for a total value of $8,600,861.92. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 213,007 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $109,690,084.72. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Meta Platforms news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 16,702 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $514.96, for a total transaction of $8,600,861.92. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 213,007 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $109,690,084.72. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 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 sale, 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. Insiders sold a total of 359,060 shares of company stock valued at $188,031,963 in the last three months. 13.71% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Meta Platforms Trading Up 0.9 %

NASDAQ:META opened at $568.31 on Thursday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $512.54 and a 200-day simple moving average of $498.54. The stock has a market cap of $1.44 trillion, a P/E ratio of 32.64, a P/E/G ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 1.21. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1 year low of $279.40 and a 1 year high of $576.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a quick ratio of 2.83 and a current ratio of 2.83.

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, topping the consensus estimate of $4.70 by $0.46. The business 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 business’s quarterly revenue was up 22.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $3.23 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 21.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 26th. Investors of record on Monday, September 16th will be given 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 0.35%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 11.49%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have commented on META. Citigroup lifted their target price on Meta Platforms from $580.00 to $645.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday. KeyCorp lifted their target price on Meta Platforms from $540.00 to $560.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. TD Securities lifted their target price on Meta Platforms from $530.00 to $600.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 10th. Bank of America lifted their target price on Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $563.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $660.00 target price on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Monday. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, thirty-four have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Meta Platforms currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $578.92.

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.