Altman Advisors Inc. Sells 2,425 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Altman Advisors Inc. cut its position in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 36.2% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 4,267 shares of the social networking company's stock after selling 2,425 shares during the period. Meta Platforms makes up 1.0% of Altman Advisors Inc.'s portfolio, making the stock its 28th largest holding. Altman Advisors Inc.'s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $2,343,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Valley Financial Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 2.4% in the fourth quarter. Valley Financial Group Inc. now owns 588 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $344,000 after purchasing an additional 14 shares during the period. Lantern Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Lantern Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,976 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $1,743,000 after purchasing an additional 14 shares during the last quarter. Riverwater Partners LLC lifted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 2.7% during the 4th quarter. Riverwater Partners LLC now owns 572 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $335,000 after purchasing an additional 15 shares during the last quarter. ABLE Financial Group LLC boosted its stake in Meta Platforms by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. ABLE Financial Group LLC now owns 2,136 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $1,251,000 after purchasing an additional 15 shares during the period. Finally, Mosaic Family Wealth Partners LLC grew its holdings in Meta Platforms by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. Mosaic Family Wealth Partners LLC now owns 1,435 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $840,000 after buying an additional 17 shares in the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Meta Platforms Stock Up 0.2%

META traded up $1.22 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $714.80. The company had a trading volume of 10,905,875 shares, compared to its average volume of 10,708,539. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 52 week low of $442.65 and a 52 week high of $747.90. The company has a market capitalization of $1.80 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.88, a PEG ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 1.28. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $691.04 and its 200 day moving average price is $640.92. 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 - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The social networking company reported $6.43 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $5.33 by $1.10. The company 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%. The firm's revenue was up 16.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $4.71 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 26th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 16th were paid a dividend of $0.525 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 16th. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.29%. Meta Platforms's payout ratio is currently 8.19%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have issued reports on META shares. TD Cowen boosted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $700.00 to $800.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. Barclays cut their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $705.00 to $640.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Rosenblatt Securities increased their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $846.00 to $918.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Piper Sandler restated an "overweight" rating and set a $808.00 target price (up from $650.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Friday, June 27th. Finally, Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on Meta Platforms from $635.00 to $740.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 2nd. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty-eight have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $752.33.

Insider Transactions at Meta Platforms

In other news, COO Javier Olivan sold 517 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, July 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $706.41, for a total transaction of $365,213.97. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 6,302 shares in the company, valued at $4,451,795.82. The trade was a 7.58% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Robert M. Kimmitt sold 465 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $723.08, for a total transaction of $336,232.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 9,342 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,755,013.36. This trade represents a 4.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 153,473 shares of company stock valued at $105,805,440. Corporate 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.