Beacon Investment Advisory Services Inc. Sells 710 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Key Points

• Beacon Investment Advisory Services Inc. has reduced its holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. by 27.3%, leaving them with 1,892 shares worth approximately $1,090,000.
• Institutional investors remain heavily involved in Meta, with 79.91% of the stock currently owned by them, and various funds increasing or establishing new positions during the first quarter.
• Multiple analysts have set new price targets for Meta, with the consensus target price now at $752.33 following various adjustments from different firms.

Beacon Investment Advisory Services Inc. trimmed its stake in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 27.3% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,892 shares of the social networking company's stock after selling 710 shares during the period. Beacon Investment Advisory Services Inc.'s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $1,090,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in Meta Platforms by 67,172.9% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 23,452,665 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $13,517,178,000 after acquiring an additional 23,417,803 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter worth about $2,243,603,000. Northern Trust Corp lifted its stake in Meta Platforms by 13.5% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 23,445,565 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $13,727,613,000 after acquiring an additional 2,787,832 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its position in Meta Platforms by 712.2% in the 1st quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 2,537,631 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $1,462,589,000 after purchasing an additional 2,225,186 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH acquired a new position in Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter worth about $1,162,918,000. 79.91% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:META traded down $4.79 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $695.21. 26,166,475 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 9,688,610. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1-year low of $450.80 and a 1-year high of $747.90. The company has a market capitalization of $1.75 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.68 and a beta of 1.28. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $696.48 and its 200-day simple moving average is $643.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 2.66 and a current ratio of 2.66.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 30th. The social networking company reported $7.14 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.75 by $1.39. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 38.69% and a net margin of 39.11%. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $5.16 EPS. Meta Platforms's revenue was up 21.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 26th. Investors of record on Monday, June 16th were given a dividend of $0.525 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 16th. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.30%. Meta Platforms's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 8.19%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 13,793 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $701.13, for a total transaction of $9,670,686.09. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 118,279 shares in the company, valued at $82,928,955.27. This trade represents a 10.44% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 22,449 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $636.85, for a total value of $14,296,645.65. Following the transaction, the chief technology officer owned 1,183 shares of the company's stock, valued at $753,393.55. This trade represents a 94.99% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 152,461 shares of company stock worth $105,335,225 in the last 90 days. 13.61% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have weighed in on META. Robert W. Baird upped their target price on Meta Platforms from $635.00 to $740.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 2nd. Sanford C. Bernstein upped their target price on Meta Platforms from $700.00 to $775.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Raymond James Financial dropped their target price on Meta Platforms from $800.00 to $750.00 and set a "strong-buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Guggenheim reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $800.00 target price (up from $725.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Monday. Finally, Moffett Nathanson upped their target price on Meta Platforms from $525.00 to $605.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty-eight have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus 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.