GFG Capital LLC Lowers Holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

GFG Capital LLC lowered its stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 19.9% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 20,614 shares of the social networking company's stock after selling 5,118 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms makes up approximately 3.5% of GFG Capital LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 7th largest position. GFG Capital LLC's holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $11,881,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of META. Inlight Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the 1st quarter worth about $25,000. Barnes Dennig Private Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Meta Platforms in the 1st quarter valued at about $28,000. Millstone Evans Group LLC bought a new position in Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter valued at about $40,000. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter valued at about $43,000. Finally, Marshall & Sterling Wealth Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter worth approximately $45,000. Institutional investors own 79.91% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 2,361 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $716.48, for a total value of $1,691,609.28. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 519 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $721.57, for a total transaction of $374,494.83. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 27,107 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,559,597.99. This represents a 1.88% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 152,263 shares of company stock worth $104,638,750. 13.61% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently weighed in on META. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on Meta Platforms from $725.00 to $750.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price 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. Oppenheimer raised their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $665.00 to $775.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, June 16th. Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $705.00 to $640.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Moffett Nathanson increased their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $525.00 to $605.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Five 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 company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $732.67.

Meta Platforms Stock Down 1.1%

META traded down $7.48 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $702.91. 13,045,170 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 15,735,423. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1 year low of $442.65 and a 1 year high of $747.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 2.66 and a current ratio of 2.66. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.77 trillion, a PE ratio of 27.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.76 and a beta of 1.28. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $679.66 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $635.93.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The social networking company reported $6.43 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.33 by $1.10. The business had revenue of $42.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $41.45 billion. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 39.11% and a return on equity of 38.69%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 16.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $4.71 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.30%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 16th. Meta Platforms's payout ratio is 8.19%.

About Meta Platforms

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.