Advisory Services Network LLC Sells 8,772 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

Advisory Services Network LLC reduced its stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 9.9% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 79,409 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 8,772 shares during the period. Meta Platforms accounts for approximately 1.0% of Advisory Services Network LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 10th largest holding. Advisory Services Network LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $61,418,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in META. Brighton Jones LLC raised its stake in Meta Platforms by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 34,551 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $20,230,000 after buying an additional 570 shares during the period. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 10.2% in the fourth quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 9,456 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $5,537,000 after acquiring an additional 875 shares in the last quarter. Aspire Growth Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 7.3% during the first quarter. Aspire Growth Partners LLC now owns 662 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $395,000 after purchasing an additional 45 shares during the period. Waddell & Associates LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 5.0% during the 1st quarter. Waddell & Associates LLC now owns 2,508 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $1,446,000 after purchasing an additional 119 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Headwater Capital Co Ltd grew its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 294.7% in the 1st quarter. Headwater Capital Co Ltd now owns 150,000 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $86,454,000 after purchasing an additional 112,000 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

NASDAQ:META opened at $644.23 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.62 trillion, a PE ratio of 28.46, a P/E/G ratio of 1.35 and a beta of 1.28. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1-year low of $479.80 and a 1-year high of $796.25. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $665.92 and a 200 day simple moving average of $707.68. The company has a current ratio of 1.98, a quick ratio of 1.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15.

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

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have commented on META shares. Cantor Fitzgerald dropped their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $830.00 to $720.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, November 19th. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $900.00 to $875.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Sanford C. Bernstein reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $870.00 target price (down from $900.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Rosenblatt Securities reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $1,117.00 price target on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Friday, December 5th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on Meta Platforms from $837.00 to $802.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-nine have assigned a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Meta Platforms currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $819.46.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, COO Javier Olivan sold 517 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $669.63, for a total value of $346,198.71. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 13,751 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,208,082.13. This trade represents a 3.62% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 11,690 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $593.31, for a total value of $6,935,793.90. Following the completion of the sale, the chief technology officer owned 2,415 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,432,843.65. This trade represents a 82.88% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 40,977 shares of company stock worth $25,834,356 over the last ninety days. 13.61% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.