Financial Advocates Investment Management Trims Position in Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

Financial Advocates Investment Management lowered its position in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 31.7% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 7,042 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 3,268 shares during the quarter. Financial Advocates Investment Management’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $5,198,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Verity & Verity LLC lifted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 9.7% during the 2nd quarter. Verity & Verity LLC now owns 1,018 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $751,000 after purchasing an additional 90 shares during the period. Southeast Asset Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 207.4% in the second quarter. Southeast Asset Advisors LLC now owns 1,860 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $1,373,000 after purchasing an additional 1,255 shares during the period. Columbia Bank increased its stake in Meta Platforms by 33.3% in the second quarter. Columbia Bank now owns 5,018 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $3,616,000 after purchasing an additional 1,253 shares during the last quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in Meta Platforms by 73,443.1% in the second quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 8,417,003 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $6,212,506,000 after purchasing an additional 8,405,558 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Spectrum Wealth Advisory Group LLC purchased a new position in Meta Platforms during the second quarter worth about $215,000. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have commented on META. Canaccord Genuity Group restated a “buy” rating and issued a $900.00 price target on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Rosenblatt Securities raised their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $1,086.00 to $1,117.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. BNP Paribas Exane started coverage on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Monday, November 24th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $800.00 target price for the company. Raymond James Financial reaffirmed a “strong-buy” rating and set a $825.00 price target (down previously from $900.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Finally, Monness Crespi & Hardt decreased their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $860.00 to $808.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-nine have issued a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $819.43.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, COO Javier Olivan sold 517 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $639.03, for a total transaction of $330,378.51. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 14,268 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,117,680.04. The trade was a 3.50% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 519 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $642.22, for a total value of $333,312.18. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 30,734 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $19,737,989.48. This represents a 1.66% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 41,959 shares of company stock valued at $26,671,107. Company insiders own 13.61% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

META opened at $661.53 on Friday. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 52-week low of $479.80 and a 52-week high of $796.25. The company has a 50 day moving average of $674.56 and a two-hundred day moving average of $705.81. The company has a market cap of $1.67 trillion, a P/E ratio of 29.22, a P/E/G ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.28. The company has a quick ratio of 1.98, a current ratio of 1.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The social networking company reported $7.25 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.74 by $0.51. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 30.89% and a return on equity of 39.35%. The business had revenue of $51.24 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $49.34 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $6.03 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 26.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 23rd. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 15th will be given a $0.525 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 15th. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.3%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is presently 9.28%.

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.