Diversify Advisory Services LLC Sells 30,820 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Diversify Advisory Services LLC lessened its stake in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 38.0% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 50,207 shares of the social networking company's stock after selling 30,820 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms makes up approximately 1.7% of Diversify Advisory Services LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 10th biggest position. Diversify Advisory Services LLC's holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $27,837,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its stake in Meta Platforms by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 34,551 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $20,230,000 after acquiring an additional 570 shares during the period. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC lifted its stake in Meta Platforms by 10.2% in the fourth quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 9,456 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $5,537,000 after acquiring an additional 875 shares during the period. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG lifted its stake in Meta Platforms by 3.5% in the fourth quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG now owns 221,459 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $129,666,000 after acquiring an additional 7,587 shares during the period. Highview Capital Management LLC DE lifted its stake in Meta Platforms by 3.7% in the fourth quarter. Highview Capital Management LLC DE now owns 6,189 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $3,624,000 after acquiring an additional 218 shares during the period. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter worth $2,243,603,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.91% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

META has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Barclays dropped their price target on Meta Platforms from $705.00 to $640.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on Meta Platforms from $685.00 to $690.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. TD Securities decreased their price objective on Meta Platforms from $725.00 to $700.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Roth Capital increased their price objective on Meta Platforms from $620.00 to $740.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. Finally, Loop Capital increased their price objective on Meta Platforms from $695.00 to $888.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, May 16th. Five 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 company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Meta Platforms presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $752.33.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Susan J. Li sold 6,874 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 70,040 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $46,181,574.40. This represents a 8.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 13,793 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $701.13, for a total value of $9,670,686.09. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 118,279 shares in the company, valued at $82,928,955.27. This represents a 10.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 153,473 shares of company stock valued at $105,805,440. Company insiders own 13.61% of the company's stock.

Meta Platforms Stock Down 0.3%

NASDAQ:META traded down $2.12 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $712.68. 8,253,539 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 10,556,341. The company has a fifty day moving average of $692.48 and a 200 day moving average of $641.78. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a twelve month low of $450.80 and a twelve month high of $747.90. The company has a market capitalization of $1.79 trillion, a P/E ratio of 27.80, a P/E/G ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 1.28. 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 earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The social networking company reported $6.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.33 by $1.10. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 38.69% and a net margin of 39.11%. The company had revenue of $42.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $41.45 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $4.71 EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 16.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The firm 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. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.29%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 16th. Meta Platforms's dividend payout ratio is currently 8.19%.

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.