Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) Shares Sold by Asset Dedication LLC

Asset Dedication LLC lowered its holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 1.9% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 16,927 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 328 shares during the period. Asset Dedication LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $8,535,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Delta Financial Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.9% in the second quarter. Delta Financial Advisors LLC now owns 4,310 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $2,173,000 after buying an additional 80 shares in the last quarter. Cross Staff Investments Inc acquired a new stake in Meta Platforms in the second quarter valued at approximately $205,000. Chris Bulman Inc purchased a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the second quarter valued at approximately $240,000. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC lifted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 56,892.0% during the second quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC now owns 564,221 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $2,845,000 after purchasing an additional 563,231 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Umpqua Bank boosted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 39.0% in the second quarter. Umpqua Bank now owns 741 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $374,000 after purchasing an additional 208 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

META has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $565.00 to $575.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, July 22nd. Raymond James boosted their price target on Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $600.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, July 1st. Oppenheimer raised their price objective on Meta Platforms from $525.00 to $615.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. TD Securities upped their target price on Meta Platforms from $530.00 to $600.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 10th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $625.00 to $647.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, thirty-four have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Meta Platforms has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $577.26.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

Shares of META opened at $511.83 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.29 trillion, a PE ratio of 29.40, a P/E/G ratio of 1.23 and a beta of 1.21. 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 firm has a 50-day moving average price of $505.12 and a 200 day moving average price of $494.86. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 52-week low of $279.40 and a 52-week high of $544.23.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last posted 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. 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $38.26 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $3.23 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 22.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 21.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 26th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 16th will be given a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.39%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 16th. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 11.49%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 150 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $500.49, for a total transaction of $75,073.50. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 124,387 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $62,254,449.63. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 150 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $500.49, for a total value of $75,073.50. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 124,387 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $62,254,449.63. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 412 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $502.00, for a total transaction of $206,824.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 7,619 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,824,738. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 373,371 shares of company stock worth $193,535,153 over the last 90 days. 13.71% of the stock is currently owned by company 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.