Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) Shares Purchased by Arkadios Wealth Advisors

Key Points

• Arkadios Wealth Advisors increased its stake in Meta Platforms by 42.4%, acquiring an additional 12,281 shares and making it its 13th largest holding worth $23.76 million.
• Insider activity was notable, with CEO Mark Zuckerberg selling 13,793 shares for approximately $9.67 million, reducing his position by 10.44%.
• Meta's recent quarterly earnings topped estimates, reporting $7.14 earnings per share and revenues of $47.52 billion, leading to an upward revision of target prices by several analysts.

Arkadios Wealth Advisors raised its position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 42.4% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 41,227 shares of the social networking company's stock after purchasing an additional 12,281 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms accounts for approximately 0.9% of Arkadios Wealth Advisors' holdings, making the stock its 13th biggest holding. Arkadios Wealth Advisors' holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $23,761,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Csenge Advisory Group raised its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 12.0% during the first quarter. Csenge Advisory Group now owns 9,539 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $5,498,000 after acquiring an additional 1,019 shares in the last quarter. Suvretta Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.1% during the fourth quarter. Suvretta Capital Management LLC now owns 170,338 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $99,735,000 after acquiring an additional 1,850 shares in the last quarter. Skye Global Management LP raised its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 130.9% during the fourth quarter. Skye Global Management LP now owns 76,200 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $44,616,000 after acquiring an additional 43,200 shares in the last quarter. ARQ Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Meta Platforms by 4.5% during the first quarter. ARQ Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 785 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $452,000 after buying an additional 34 shares during the period. Finally, JMG Financial Group Ltd. purchased a new position in Meta Platforms during the first quarter valued at approximately $284,000. 79.91% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently issued reports on META. HSBC raised shares of Meta Platforms from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $610.00 to $900.00 in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Pivotal Research lifted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $830.00 to $930.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Scotiabank lifted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $675.00 to $685.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Jefferies Financial Group cut their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $725.00 to $600.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 7th. Finally, Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $725.00 to $750.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty-nine have issued a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $820.32.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

META traded down $8.30 on Tuesday, reaching $768.07. The stock had a trading volume of 3,441,751 shares, compared to its average volume of 15,569,142. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12-month low of $478.65 and a 12-month high of $784.75. The company has a current ratio of 1.97, a quick ratio of 1.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. The business's 50-day moving average price is $704.66 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $647.27. The company has a market cap of $1.93 trillion, a P/E ratio of 27.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 1.27.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 30th. The social networking company reported $7.14 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $5.75 by $1.39. The company had revenue of $47.52 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $44.55 billion. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 39.99% and a return on equity of 39.33%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 21.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $5.16 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.3%. Meta Platforms's payout ratio is currently 7.60%.

Insider Activity at Meta Platforms

In other news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 519 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $719.86, for a total transaction of $373,607.34. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 25,550 shares of the company's stock, valued at $18,392,423. The trade was a 1.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 517 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $715.00, for a total transaction of $369,655.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 5,785 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,136,275. This represents a 8.20% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 167,298 shares of company stock worth $116,742,790 over the last three months. Company 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.