Weatherly Asset Management L. P. Sells 497 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Weatherly Asset Management L. P. decreased its position in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 4.6% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 10,303 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 497 shares during the quarter. Weatherly Asset Management L. P.’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $5,938,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in META. MQS Management LLC purchased a new position in Meta Platforms in the first quarter valued at approximately $300,000. Legacy Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 20.8% in the 1st quarter. Legacy Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,050 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $605,000 after purchasing an additional 181 shares in the last quarter. Whitener Capital Management Inc. lifted its position in Meta Platforms by 18.8% in the first quarter. Whitener Capital Management Inc. now owns 4,711 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $2,715,000 after purchasing an additional 745 shares during the last quarter. Prudent Man Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 25.4% during the first quarter. Prudent Man Advisors LLC now owns 1,471 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $848,000 after acquiring an additional 298 shares in the last quarter. Finally, LRI Investments LLC grew its stake in Meta Platforms by 1.0% in the first quarter. LRI Investments LLC now owns 33,829 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $19,498,000 after purchasing an additional 351 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Canaccord Genuity Group raised their price objective on Meta Platforms from $825.00 to $850.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Truist Financial increased their price target on Meta Platforms from $700.00 to $720.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Susquehanna cut their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $800.00 to $700.00 and set a “positive” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Monness Crespi & Hardt lifted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $775.00 to $780.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Piper Sandler reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $808.00 price target (up previously from $650.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Friday, June 27th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty-eight have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Meta Platforms currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $736.05.

Insider Buying and Selling at Meta Platforms

In other Meta Platforms news, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 22,449 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $636.85, for a total transaction of $14,296,645.65. Following the transaction, the chief technology officer owned 1,183 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $753,393.55. This trade represents a 94.99% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 13,793 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $701.13, for a total value of $9,670,686.09. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 118,279 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $82,928,955.27. The trade was a 10.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 153,764 shares of company stock valued at $105,721,208. 13.61% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Meta Platforms Stock Down 0.2%

Shares of META stock opened at $701.41 on Friday. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12 month low of $442.65 and a 12 month high of $747.90. The firm has a market cap of $1.76 trillion, a PE ratio of 27.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 1.28. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $683.85 and a 200-day moving average of $637.15. The company has a quick ratio of 2.66, a current ratio of 2.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The social networking company reported $6.43 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.33 by $1.10. The business had revenue of $42.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $41.45 billion. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 39.11% and a return on equity of 38.69%. Meta Platforms’s quarterly revenue was up 16.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $4.71 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 26th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 16th were given a dividend of $0.525 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 16th. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.30%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 8.19%.

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.