Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) Shares Sold by Arrow Financial Corp

Key Points

• Arrow Financial Corp has reduced its stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. by 41.5%, now owning 7,890 shares valued at approximately $4.55 million.
• Meta reported a Q2 earnings per share of $6.43, exceeding analyst estimates by $1.10, with revenue of $42.31 billion, marking a 16.1% year-over-year increase.
• Meta Platforms recently declared a quarterly dividend of $0.525 per share, equating to an annualized yield of 0.29%.

Arrow Financial Corp reduced its position in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 41.5% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 7,890 shares of the social networking company's stock after selling 5,590 shares during the period. Arrow Financial Corp's holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $4,547,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Inlight Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Meta Platforms in the first quarter worth about $25,000. Barnes Dennig Private Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the first quarter worth about $28,000. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter worth about $43,000. Marshall & Sterling Wealth Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter worth about $45,000. Finally, JCIC Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 102.6% in the first quarter. JCIC Asset Management Inc. now owns 79 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $46,000 after purchasing an additional 40 shares in the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Meta Platforms Trading Down 0.9%

Shares of NASDAQ:META traded down $6.16 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $711.47. 3,558,057 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 15,318,961. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $694.03 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $642.71. 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 stock has a market cap of $1.79 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.78, a P/E/G ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 1.28. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $450.80 and a fifty-two week high of $747.90.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The social networking company reported $6.43 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.33 by $1.10. The company had revenue of $42.31 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $41.45 billion. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 38.69% and a net margin of 39.11%. Meta Platforms's revenue was up 16.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $4.71 EPS. As a group, 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 paid a $0.525 dividend. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.30%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 16th. Meta Platforms's payout ratio is presently 8.19%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Robert M. Kimmitt sold 465 shares of the business'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 sale, the director owned 9,342 shares in the company, valued at $6,755,013.36. The trade was a 4.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 2,361 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $716.48, for a total value of $1,691,609.28. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 151,944 shares of company stock worth $104,965,570 in the last three months. 13.61% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on META shares. Sanford C. Bernstein lifted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $700.00 to $775.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 22nd. UBS Group reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $812.00 target price (up previously from $683.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday, June 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $735.00 to $795.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, July 11th. Monness Crespi & Hardt boosted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $775.00 to $780.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $664.00 to $783.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty-eight have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $754.07.

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.