Exencial Wealth Advisors LLC Cuts Stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Key Points

• Exencial Wealth Advisors LLC reduced its holdings in Meta Platforms by 10.2%, now owning 61,321 shares valued at approximately $35.34 million.
• Meta reported strong quarterly results with $7.14 EPS, exceeding estimates, and revenue growth of 21.6% year-over-year, reaching $47.52 billion.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.525 per share, with an annualized yield of 0.3%, reflecting a payout ratio of 7.60%.

Exencial Wealth Advisors LLC lowered its position in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 10.2% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 61,321 shares of the social networking company's stock after selling 6,970 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms accounts for approximately 1.3% of Exencial Wealth Advisors LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 12th biggest holding. Exencial Wealth Advisors LLC's holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $35,343,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in META. Brighton Jones LLC grew its position in Meta Platforms by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 34,551 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $20,230,000 after buying an additional 570 shares in the last quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 10.2% in the 4th quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 9,456 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $5,537,000 after buying an additional 875 shares during the last quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG grew its position 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 in the last quarter. Highview Capital Management LLC DE lifted its stake in Meta Platforms by 3.7% during 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 purchasing an additional 218 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter worth about $2,243,603,000. 79.91% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Meta Platforms

In other Meta Platforms news, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 22,449 shares of the business's stock in a transaction 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 sale, the chief technology officer directly owned 1,183 shares in the company, valued at $753,393.55. The trade was a 94.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 15,847 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $753.43, for a total value of $11,939,605.21. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 290,263 shares of company stock worth $211,724,057 in the last quarter. 13.61% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

Shares of Meta Platforms stock traded down $3.43 on Monday, hitting $765.87. The stock had a trading volume of 7,597,659 shares, compared to its average volume of 15,441,953. The company has a quick ratio of 1.97, a current ratio of 1.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. The stock has a market cap of $1.92 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 1.27. The business's 50 day moving average is $714.53 and its two-hundred day moving average is $651.30. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a twelve month low of $479.80 and a twelve month high of $784.75.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 30th. The social networking company reported $7.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.75 by $1.39. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 39.33% and a net margin of 39.99%. The company had revenue of $47.52 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $44.55 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $5.16 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up 21.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 26th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 16th were paid a $0.525 dividend. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 16th. Meta Platforms's dividend payout ratio is 7.60%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have commented on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $685.00 to $690.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Rosenblatt Securities raised 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. Bank of America lifted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $775.00 to $900.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Sanford C. Bernstein raised their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $775.00 to $900.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group upped their target price on Meta Platforms from $825.00 to $850.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 16th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty-nine have assigned a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $822.41.

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.