Astoria Portfolio Advisors LLC. Sells 739 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Astoria Portfolio Advisors LLC. lowered its position in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 15.1% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 4,145 shares of the social networking company's stock after selling 739 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms accounts for about 0.8% of Astoria Portfolio Advisors LLC.'s holdings, making the stock its 24th largest position. Astoria Portfolio Advisors LLC.'s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $2,389,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Inlight Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms in the 1st quarter worth about $25,000. Barnes Dennig Private Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the 1st quarter valued at about $28,000. Millstone Evans Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter worth approximately $40,000. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter worth approximately $43,000. Finally, Marshall & Sterling Wealth Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $45,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.91% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Meta Platforms

In other news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 519 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $737.00, for a total transaction of $382,503.00. Following the sale, the insider owned 27,626 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,360,362. This represents a 1.84% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 517 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $740.97, for a total value of $383,081.49. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 7,853 shares of the company's stock, valued at $5,818,837.41. This represents a 6.18% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 154,285 shares of company stock valued at $105,518,153. Corporate insiders own 13.61% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have issued reports on META. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $615.00 to $650.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Needham & Company LLC raised Meta Platforms from an "underperform" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday. Guggenheim raised their price target on Meta Platforms from $675.00 to $725.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price target on Meta Platforms from $725.00 to $600.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 7th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald increased their price objective on Meta Platforms from $676.00 to $807.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, June 18th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty-seven have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $719.29.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

NASDAQ:META traded up $3.34 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $716.91. The company had a trading volume of 8,601,653 shares, compared to its average volume of 14,572,054. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.80 trillion, a PE ratio of 27.96, a PEG ratio of 1.76 and a beta of 1.28. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $658.89 and a two-hundred day moving average of $629.81. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a one year low of $442.65 and a one year high of $747.90. 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 announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The social networking company reported $6.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $5.33 by $1.10. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 39.11% and a return on equity of 38.69%. The business had revenue of $42.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $41.45 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $4.71 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 16.1% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

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

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.