Moran Wealth Management LLC Sells 478 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Moran Wealth Management LLC lessened its holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 1.6% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 30,076 shares of the social networking company's stock after selling 478 shares during the quarter. Moran Wealth Management LLC's holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $17,335,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of META. Valley Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 2.4% in the 4th quarter. Valley Financial Group Inc. now owns 588 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $344,000 after buying an additional 14 shares during the last quarter. Lantern Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Lantern Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,976 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $1,743,000 after buying an additional 14 shares during the last quarter. Maiden Cove Capital LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 3.2% in the 4th quarter. Maiden Cove Capital LLC now owns 481 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $282,000 after buying an additional 15 shares during the last quarter. Riverwater Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 2.7% in the 4th quarter. Riverwater Partners LLC now owns 572 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $335,000 after buying an additional 15 shares during the last quarter. Finally, ABLE Financial Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. ABLE Financial Group LLC now owns 2,136 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $1,251,000 after buying an additional 15 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.91% of the company's stock.

Meta Platforms Trading Up 1.0%

Shares of Meta Platforms stock traded up $7.54 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $733.63. 18,758,104 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 14,544,681. 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 company has a market cap of $1.84 trillion, a PE ratio of 28.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.79 and a beta of 1.26. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $638.51 and a 200-day moving average of $626.52. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12 month low of $442.65 and a 12 month high of $740.91.

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

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.29%. Meta Platforms's dividend payout ratio is presently 8.19%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Wells Fargo & Company restated an "overweight" rating and issued a $664.00 price objective on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Tuesday, June 17th. Guggenheim boosted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $675.00 to $725.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Truist Financial boosted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $700.00 to $720.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. DA Davidson lowered their price objective on Meta Platforms from $800.00 to $650.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Finally, Raymond James Financial lowered their price objective on Meta Platforms from $800.00 to $750.00 and set a "strong-buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, thirty-seven have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $719.52.

Insider Activity at Meta Platforms

In other Meta Platforms news, COO Javier Olivan sold 608 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, April 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $488.18, for a total value of $296,813.44. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 5,622 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,744,547.96. This represents a 9.76% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 519 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $704.89, for a total value of $365,837.91. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 28,145 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $19,839,129.05. This trade represents a 1.81% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 124,831 shares of company stock worth $83,868,872 over the last quarter. 13.61% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.