Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) Stake Lessened by Affinity Capital Advisors LLC

Affinity Capital Advisors LLC lessened its holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 2.1% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 5,907 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 125 shares during the period. Affinity Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $2,979,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. Quest Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter valued at about $32,000. Clear Investment Research LLC grew its position in Meta Platforms by 411.1% during 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 in the last quarter. Delos Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in Meta Platforms by 527.3% in the 1st quarter. Delos Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 69 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 58 shares during the period. POM Investment Strategies LLC purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $38,000. Finally, Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 122.2% during the 2nd quarter. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. now owns 80 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $40,000 after buying an additional 44 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Meta Platforms

In related news, CFO Susan J. Li sold 8,950 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $526.76, for a total value of $4,714,502.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 74,579 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $39,285,234.04. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, CFO Susan J. Li sold 8,950 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $526.76, for a total transaction of $4,714,502.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 74,579 shares in the company, valued at approximately $39,285,234.04. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of the 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 completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 37,845 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,944,071.65. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 359,060 shares of company stock valued at $188,031,963 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Stock Up 0.9 %

NASDAQ META opened at $568.31 on Thursday. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a twelve month low of $279.40 and a twelve month high of $576.88. The stock has a market cap of $1.44 trillion, a PE ratio of 32.64, a PEG ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 1.21. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $512.54 and a 200 day simple moving average of $498.54. 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 issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The social networking company reported $5.16 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.70 by $0.46. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 34.34% and a return on equity of 34.16%. The business had revenue of $39.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $38.26 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $3.23 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 22.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 21.36 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The company 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. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.35%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 16th. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is 11.49%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

META has been the subject of several recent research reports. Rosenblatt Securities increased their price objective on Meta Platforms from $562.00 to $643.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $570.00 target price on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on Meta Platforms from $522.00 to $555.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $590.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $570.00 price objective on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, thirty-four have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Meta Platforms has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $578.92.

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.