Balboa Wealth Partners Sells 1,187 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Balboa Wealth Partners reduced its position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 7.7% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 14,213 shares of the social networking company's stock after selling 1,187 shares during the period. Meta Platforms comprises 2.0% of Balboa Wealth Partners' holdings, making the stock its 10th largest position. Balboa Wealth Partners' holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $8,192,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of META. Inlight Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Meta Platforms in the 1st quarter valued at about $25,000. Millstone Evans Group LLC bought a new position in Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter valued at about $40,000. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter valued at about $43,000. Marshall & Sterling Wealth Advisors Inc. bought a new position in Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter valued at about $45,000. Finally, Stuart Chaussee & Associates Inc. bought a new position in Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter valued at about $47,000. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have weighed in on META. Piper Sandler reissued an "overweight" rating and issued a $808.00 price target (up from $650.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Friday. Wedbush increased their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $680.00 to $750.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. UBS Group reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $812.00 price target (up from $683.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday. Loop Capital increased their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $695.00 to $888.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, May 16th. Finally, DA Davidson lowered their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $800.00 to $650.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 14th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, thirty-seven have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $719.52.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

NASDAQ:META traded up $7.54 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $733.63. The stock had a trading volume of 18,758,104 shares, compared to its average volume of 14,525,798. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $633.87 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $625.73. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.84 trillion, a PE ratio of 28.61, a P/E/G ratio of 1.74 and a beta of 1.26. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 2.66 and a quick ratio of 2.66. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12 month low of $442.65 and a 12 month high of $740.91.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The social networking company reported $6.43 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 firm had revenue of $42.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $41.45 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $4.71 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was up 16.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Meta Platforms

In other Meta Platforms news, COO Javier Olivan sold 608 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $563.03, for a total value of $342,322.24. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 6,230 shares in the company, valued at $3,507,676.90. This trade represents a 8.89% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 921 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $543.39, for a total transaction of $500,462.19. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 29,340 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,943,062.60. This trade represents a 3.04% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 124,831 shares of company stock worth $83,868,872 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 13.61% of the company's stock.

Meta Platforms Company 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.