Florida Financial Advisors LLC Sells 3,348 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

Key Points

• Florida Financial Advisors LLC cut its Meta Platforms stake by 40.3% in the first quarter, selling 3,348 shares and leaving it with 4,967 shares worth about $2.84 million.
• Meta reported strong first-quarter earnings, with EPS of $10.44 beating estimates by a wide margin and revenue of $56.31 billion topping expectations as well.
• Despite some analyst price-target moves and insider sales, Wall Street sentiment remains generally positive, with a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a target price around $835.64.

Florida Financial Advisors LLC lowered its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 40.3% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 4,967 shares of the social networking company's stock after selling 3,348 shares during the period. Florida Financial Advisors LLC's holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $2,843,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of META. Leith Wheeler Investment Counsel Ltd. grew its stake in Meta Platforms by 25.6% during the first quarter. Leith Wheeler Investment Counsel Ltd. now owns 35,748 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $20,452,000 after buying an additional 7,287 shares during the last quarter. Paul R. Ried Financial Group LLC lifted its position in Meta Platforms by 3.4% during the 1st quarter. Paul R. Ried Financial Group LLC now owns 724 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $414,000 after buying an additional 24 shares in the last quarter. Grant Street Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in Meta Platforms by 23.8% during the 1st quarter. Grant Street Asset Management Inc. now owns 380 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $217,000 after acquiring an additional 73 shares during the last quarter. Commonwealth Financial Services LLC grew its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 8.3% during the first quarter. Commonwealth Financial Services LLC now owns 3,316 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $1,897,000 after purchasing an additional 255 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Meeder Advisory Services Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 5.7% in the first quarter. Meeder Advisory Services Inc. now owns 50,943 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $29,146,000 after purchasing an additional 2,741 shares in the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Meta Platforms Stock Down 1.8%

Shares of META opened at $595.19 on Friday. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $604.51 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $625.76. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12 month low of $520.26 and a 12 month high of $796.25. The company has a current ratio of 2.35, a quick ratio of 2.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24. The company has a market capitalization of $1.51 trillion, a PE ratio of 21.64, a PEG ratio of 1.02 and a beta of 1.25.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The social networking company reported $10.44 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $6.67 by $3.77. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 36.93% and a net margin of 32.84%.The company had revenue of $56.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $55.56 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $6.43 EPS. Meta Platforms's quarterly revenue was up 33.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 29.49 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 25th. Investors of record on Monday, June 15th were paid a dividend of $0.525 per share. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 15th. Meta Platforms's dividend payout ratio is presently 7.63%.

Meta Platforms News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Meta Platforms this week:

• Positive Sentiment: A new free verification badge system for Facebook users, which may improve trust and platform quality. Fast Company article
• Positive Sentiment: A dedicated Marketplace seller app with tools for merchants, aimed at making Facebook commerce more useful and organized. Reuters article
• Positive Sentiment: Wall Street commentary remained constructive, with articles highlighting Meta as a strong momentum stock and a potentially attractive AI-era value name.
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst sentiment stayed favorable, including a report that Wells Fargo raised its price target on Meta to $835.00.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on META. Cantor Fitzgerald cut their price target on Meta Platforms from $850.00 to $750.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Benchmark assumed coverage on Meta Platforms in a research note on Tuesday, June 2nd. They set a "buy" rating for the company. Needham & Company LLC restated a "hold" rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Wednesday, July 8th. Wolfe Research dropped their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $850.00 to $800.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 10th. Finally, Rothschild & Co Redburn increased their price target on Meta Platforms from $900.00 to $1,000.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-four have assigned a Buy rating, eight have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $835.64.

Insider Buying and Selling at Meta Platforms

In related news, insider Curtis J. Mahoney sold 2,079 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $609.92, for a total transaction of $1,268,023.68. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 1,118 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $681,890.56. The trade was a 65.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 3,348 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $600.97, for a total value of $2,012,047.56. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 9,498 shares in the company, valued at $5,708,013.06. This represents a 26.06% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold a total of 37,948 shares of company stock valued at $23,184,319 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 13.53% of the company's stock.

About Meta Platforms

Meta Platforms, Inc NASDAQ: META, formerly Facebook, Inc, is a global technology company best known for building social networking services and immersive computing platforms. Founded in 2004 and headquartered in Menlo Park, California, the company operates a family of consumer-facing products and services that connect users, creators and businesses. In October 2021 the company rebranded as Meta to reflect an expanded strategic focus on augmented and virtual reality technologies alongside its social media businesses.

Meta's core consumer products include Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp and Messenger, which enable social networking, messaging, content sharing and community building across mobile and desktop devices.

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