Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) Shares Sold by Linscomb Wealth Inc.

Linscomb Wealth Inc. lowered its stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 5.1% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 18,116 shares of the social networking company's stock after selling 976 shares during the quarter. Linscomb Wealth Inc.'s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $10,441,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in META. Inlight Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Meta Platforms in the 1st quarter valued at $25,000. Barnes Dennig Private Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Meta Platforms in the 1st quarter valued at $28,000. MJT & Associates Financial Advisory Group Inc. purchased a new position in Meta Platforms in the 1st quarter valued at $33,000. Marshall & Sterling Wealth Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter valued at $45,000. Finally, JCIC Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 102.6% in the 1st quarter. JCIC Asset Management Inc. now owns 79 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $46,000 after purchasing an additional 40 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.91% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 1,037 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $785.18, for a total transaction of $814,231.66. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 517 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $770.00, for a total value of $398,090.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer owned 4,751 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,658,270. This trade represents a 9.81% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 292,211 shares of company stock worth $215,232,155 over the last three months. 13.61% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have weighed in on META shares. Roth Capital raised their price objective on Meta Platforms from $620.00 to $740.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Meta Platforms from $750.00 to $850.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Truist Financial raised their price objective on Meta Platforms from $700.00 to $720.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. JMP Securities raised their price objective on Meta Platforms from $750.00 to $900.00 and gave the company a "market outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Meta Platforms from $795.00 to $875.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty-nine have given a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $822.41.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

Meta Platforms stock opened at $780.08 on Thursday. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12 month low of $479.80 and a 12 month high of $795.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a current ratio of 1.97 and a quick ratio of 1.97. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $720.73 and a 200-day simple moving average of $653.97. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.96 trillion, a PE ratio of 28.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.64 and a beta of 1.27.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The social networking company reported $7.14 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 business had revenue of $47.52 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $44.55 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $5.16 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was up 21.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

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

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.

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