Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) Shares Sold by Lazari Capital Management Inc.

Lazari Capital Management Inc. decreased its position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 8.9% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 36,069 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 3,524 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms accounts for approximately 8.2% of Lazari Capital Management Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 2nd largest holding. Lazari Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $18,187,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Sanctuary Advisors LLC bought a new position in Meta Platforms in the second quarter valued at $105,117,000. Creekside Partners acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the 2nd quarter worth about $327,000. NCP Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.1% in the 2nd quarter. NCP Inc. now owns 114,048 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $57,505,000 after acquiring an additional 1,270 shares in the last quarter. Brown Financial Advisors acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the second quarter valued at about $2,333,000. Finally, Gordian Capital Singapore Pte Ltd raised its holdings in Meta Platforms by 52.8% during the second quarter. Gordian Capital Singapore Pte Ltd now owns 25,005 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $12,608,000 after acquiring an additional 8,638 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Stock Up 0.7 %

META stock opened at $576.47 on Wednesday. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 52 week low of $279.40 and a 52 week high of $583.04. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $519.65 and a 200 day simple moving average of $500.85. The company has a quick ratio of 2.83, a current ratio of 2.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. The company has a market cap of $1.46 trillion, a PE ratio of 33.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 1.21.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last issued its earnings results 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. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 34.34% and a return on equity of 34.16%. The company had revenue of $39.07 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $38.26 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $3.23 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 22.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 21.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 26th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 16th were issued 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 is presently 11.49%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have weighed in on META. Rosenblatt Securities raised their price target on Meta Platforms from $643.00 to $811.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 26th. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $630.00 to $635.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Monness Crespi & Hardt boosted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $570.00 to $620.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday. DA Davidson initiated coverage on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $600.00 price target for the company. Finally, Benchmark restated a “hold” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, thirty-five have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $597.95.

Insider Activity

In related news, COO Javier Olivan sold 412 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, July 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $512.00, for a total transaction of $210,944.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 6,795 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,479,040. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In related news, COO Javier Olivan sold 412 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $512.00, for a total transaction of $210,944.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 6,795 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,479,040. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 5,057 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 transaction of $2,663,825.32. Following the completion of the sale, the chief technology officer now owns 11,990 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,315,852.40. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 308,462 shares of company stock worth $162,308,065. Insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Company 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.