Blume Capital Management Inc. Sells 1,182 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Key Points

• Blume Capital Management Inc. reduced its holdings in Meta Platforms by 5.9%, selling 1,182 shares while retaining 18,834 shares, valued at approximately $10.86 million.
• Various large investors have adjusted their stakes in Meta, with Winthrop Capital Management increasing its holdings by 64.2% during the first quarter.
• Multiple analysts have raised their price targets for Meta's stock, with Scotiabank increasing theirs from $525 to $675 and Piper Sandler setting a target of $808.

Blume Capital Management Inc. decreased its position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 5.9% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 18,834 shares of the social networking company's stock after selling 1,182 shares during the period. Meta Platforms comprises approximately 2.4% of Blume Capital Management Inc.'s portfolio, making the stock its 11th biggest holding. Blume Capital Management Inc.'s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $10,855,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Csenge Advisory Group raised its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 12.0% in the 1st quarter. Csenge Advisory Group now owns 9,539 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $5,498,000 after purchasing an additional 1,019 shares during the period. Suvretta Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Meta Platforms by 1.1% during the 4th quarter. Suvretta Capital Management LLC now owns 170,338 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $99,735,000 after purchasing an additional 1,850 shares during the last quarter. Skye Global Management LP increased its holdings in Meta Platforms by 130.9% during the 4th quarter. Skye Global Management LP now owns 76,200 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $44,616,000 after purchasing an additional 43,200 shares during the last quarter. ARQ Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 4.5% in the 1st quarter. ARQ Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 785 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $452,000 after acquiring an additional 34 shares in the last quarter. Finally, JMG Financial Group Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the 1st quarter worth approximately $284,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.91% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Meta Platforms

In other news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 13,793 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the chief executive officer owned 118,279 shares in the company, valued at approximately $82,928,955.27. This trade represents a 10.44% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO Susan J. Li sold 6,874 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $659.36, for a total value of $4,532,440.64. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 70,040 shares in the company, valued at $46,181,574.40. This trade represents a 8.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 152,461 shares of company stock worth $105,335,225. Corporate insiders own 13.61% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

META has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Scotiabank lifted their target price on Meta Platforms from $525.00 to $675.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 22nd. Pivotal Research boosted their target price on Meta Platforms from $830.00 to $930.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday. Wedbush lifted their price target on Meta Platforms from $750.00 to $920.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday. Rosenblatt Securities boosted their price target on Meta Platforms from $846.00 to $918.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Oppenheimer boosted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $775.00 to $870.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty-eight have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $801.57.

Meta Platforms Stock Up 12.0%

NASDAQ:META traded up $83.16 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $778.37. 24,533,695 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 15,531,312. The stock has a market cap of $1.96 trillion, a PE ratio of 30.36, a PEG ratio of 1.68 and a beta of 1.28. 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 twelve month low of $450.80 and a twelve month high of $784.75. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $696.48 and a 200 day moving average of $643.47.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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 business had revenue of $47.52 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $44.55 billion. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 38.69% and a net margin of 39.11%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 21.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $5.16 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 26th. Investors of record on Monday, June 16th were issued a $0.525 dividend. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.27%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 16th. Meta Platforms's dividend payout ratio is currently 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.