Alpha Cubed Investments LLC Decreases Stock Position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Alpha Cubed Investments LLC lowered its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 0.5% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 102,392 shares of the social networking company's stock after selling 474 shares during the period. Meta Platforms comprises 2.6% of Alpha Cubed Investments LLC's holdings, making the stock its 11th largest holding. Alpha Cubed Investments LLC's holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $59,015,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 191,198,005 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $111,948,344,000 after acquiring an additional 1,502,553 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 2.1% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 49,181,127 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $28,719,970,000 after purchasing an additional 1,020,519 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 2.5% in the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 42,317,434 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $24,777,282,000 after purchasing an additional 1,049,121 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors grew its position in Meta Platforms by 2.9% in the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 40,317,105 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $23,606,338,000 after purchasing an additional 1,141,355 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new stake in Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter valued at $19,949,512,000. Institutional investors own 79.91% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently commented on META. UBS Group reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $812.00 price objective (up from $683.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday, June 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Meta Platforms from $735.00 to $795.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday. Oppenheimer raised their price objective on Meta Platforms from $665.00 to $775.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, June 16th. Bank of America upped their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $690.00 to $765.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Monness Crespi & Hardt raised their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $775.00 to $780.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty-seven have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $729.38.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:META traded down $9.73 on Friday, hitting $717.51. The company's stock had a trading volume of 10,855,962 shares, compared to its average volume of 14,460,014. The company has a market capitalization of $1.80 trillion, a PE ratio of 27.98, a PEG ratio of 1.76 and a beta of 1.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 2.66 and a quick ratio of 2.66. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $674.77 and a 200 day simple moving average of $634.35. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1 year low of $442.65 and a 1 year high of $747.90.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last posted 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. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 39.11% and a return on equity of 38.69%. The company had revenue of $42.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $41.45 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $4.71 earnings per share. Meta Platforms's revenue for the quarter was up 16.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current fiscal 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. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.29%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 16th. Meta Platforms's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 8.19%.

Insider Transactions at Meta Platforms

In related news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 519 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $721.57, for a total value of $374,494.83. Following the transaction, the insider owned 27,107 shares of the company's stock, valued at $19,559,597.99. This represents a 1.88% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 517 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $717.51, for a total value of $370,952.67. Following the sale, the chief operating officer owned 7,336 shares in the company, valued at $5,263,653.36. The trade was a 6.58% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 153,792 shares of company stock valued at $105,466,325. Insiders own 13.61% of the company's stock.

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.