Pettyjohn Wood & White Inc. Sells 592 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Key Points

• Pettyjohn Wood & White Inc. reduced its stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. by 6.1%, selling 592 shares and holding a total of 9,152 shares valued at approximately $5.275 million.
• Several hedge funds, including Baker Avenue Asset Management and Jefferies Financial Group, have increased their holdings in Meta Platforms, with Jefferies' acquisition representing a significant 8,705.7% increase.
• Meta Platforms reported strong quarterly earnings, with an EPS of $7.14 that surpassed expectations, alongside a 21.6% year-over-year revenue growth to $47.52 billion.

Pettyjohn Wood & White Inc. lessened its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 6.1% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 9,152 shares of the social networking company's stock after selling 592 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms accounts for approximately 1.0% of Pettyjohn Wood & White Inc.'s holdings, making the stock its 28th largest holding. Pettyjohn Wood & White Inc.'s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $5,275,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in META. Brighton Jones LLC raised its stake in Meta Platforms by 1.7% during the 4th 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 during the period. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC raised its stake 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 valued at $5,537,000 after purchasing an additional 875 shares during the period. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG raised its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 3.5% in the 4th quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG now owns 221,459 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $129,666,000 after purchasing an additional 7,587 shares during the period. Highview Capital Management LLC DE raised its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 3.7% in the 4th quarter. Highview Capital Management LLC DE now owns 6,189 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $3,624,000 after purchasing an additional 218 shares during the period. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter valued at about $2,243,603,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.91% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have issued reports on META. Piper Sandler lifted their price target on Meta Platforms from $808.00 to $880.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Pivotal Research lifted their price target on Meta Platforms from $830.00 to $930.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. TD Cowen lifted their price target on Meta Platforms from $800.00 to $875.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Moffett Nathanson lifted their price target on Meta Platforms from $525.00 to $605.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Benchmark lifted their price target on Meta Platforms from $800.00 to $890.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty-nine have given a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $822.41.

Insider Transactions at Meta Platforms

In related news, COO Javier Olivan sold 517 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, August 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $760.26, for a total value of $393,054.42. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 5,268 shares in the company, valued at $4,005,049.68. This represents a 8.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Christopher K. Cox sold 15,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $767.80, for a total value of $11,517,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 222,205 shares of the company's stock, valued at $170,608,999. The trade was a 6.32% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 275,024 shares of company stock worth $199,983,159. Insiders own 13.61% of the company's stock.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

Shares of META traded up $7.47 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $769.30. The stock had a trading volume of 7,308,601 shares, compared to its average volume of 13,419,927. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a quick ratio of 1.97 and a current ratio of 1.97. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12 month low of $479.80 and a 12 month high of $784.75. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.93 trillion, a PE ratio of 27.85, a PEG ratio of 1.58 and a beta of 1.27. The company's 50-day moving average is $714.53 and its two-hundred day moving average is $651.01.

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 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $44.55 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $5.16 EPS. Meta Platforms's revenue for the quarter was up 21.6% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 26th. Investors of record on Monday, June 16th were issued a dividend of $0.525 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 16th. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.3%. Meta Platforms's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 7.60%.

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.