JPL Wealth Management LLC Sells 1,021 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Key Points

• JPL Wealth Management LLC reduced its holdings in Meta Platforms by 61.1%, now owning 651 shares valued at approximately $375,000.
• Several hedge funds have made notable adjustments, including Csenge Advisory Group increasing its stake by 12.0%, now holding 9,539 shares worth $5,498,000.
• Meta Platforms has received numerous analyst upgrades, with target prices rising, indicating overall strong market sentiment reflected in a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy."

JPL Wealth Management LLC lowered its holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 61.1% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 651 shares of the social networking company's stock after selling 1,021 shares during the period. JPL Wealth Management LLC's holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $375,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Inlight Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the 1st quarter valued at $25,000. Barnes Dennig Private Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the first quarter valued at about $28,000. Marshall & Sterling Wealth Advisors Inc. bought a new position in Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter valued at about $45,000. JCIC Asset Management Inc. grew its position in Meta Platforms by 102.6% during the first quarter. JCIC Asset Management Inc. now owns 79 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $46,000 after buying an additional 40 shares during the period. Finally, Stuart Chaussee & Associates Inc. bought a new position in Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter valued at about $47,000. Institutional investors own 79.91% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Robert M. Kimmitt sold 465 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $723.08, for a total value of $336,232.20. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 9,342 shares of the company's stock, valued at $6,755,013.36. The trade was a 4.74% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 2,361 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $716.48, for a total value of $1,691,609.28. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 152,461 shares of company stock valued at $105,335,225. 13.61% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Meta Platforms Stock Up 12.0%

Shares of META traded up $83.16 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $778.37. The company's stock had a trading volume of 24,533,695 shares, compared to its average volume of 15,531,312. The business has a fifty day moving average of $696.48 and a 200 day moving average of $643.47. The company has a market cap of $1.96 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.68 and a beta of 1.28. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1 year low of $450.80 and a 1 year high of $784.75. The company has a quick ratio of 2.66, a current ratio of 2.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 30th. The social networking company reported $7.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.75 by $1.39. The business had revenue of $47.52 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $44.55 billion. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 38.69% and a net margin of 39.11%. Meta Platforms's quarterly revenue was up 21.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $5.16 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 26th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 16th were given a $0.525 dividend. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.27%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 16th. Meta Platforms's dividend payout ratio is currently 8.19%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently weighed in on META. Moffett Nathanson lifted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $525.00 to $605.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Citigroup reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday. Raymond James Financial boosted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $750.00 to $900.00 and gave the company a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Thursday. Canaccord Genuity Group boosted their target price on Meta Platforms from $825.00 to $850.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 16th. Finally, TD Cowen upped their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $800.00 to $875.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty-eight have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $801.57.

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.