Roberts Glore & Co. Inc. IL Sells 416 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Key Points

• Roberts Glore & Co. Inc. has reduced its holdings in Meta Platforms by 9.5%, selling 416 shares during the first quarter.
• Multiple analysts have raised their price targets for Meta Platforms, with Truist Financial increasing their target from $700 to $720 and TD Cowen from $800 to $875, indicating strong market sentiment.
• In a recent earnings report, Meta Platforms achieved an EPS of $7.14, exceeding estimates of $5.75, alongside a revenue of $47.52 billion, reflecting a 21.6% year-over-year growth.

Roberts Glore & Co. Inc. IL trimmed its holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 9.5% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 3,965 shares of the social networking company's stock after selling 416 shares during the quarter. Roberts Glore & Co. Inc. IL's holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $2,285,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently commented on META. Guggenheim reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $800.00 price objective (up from $725.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Monday, July 28th. HSBC raised Meta Platforms from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $610.00 to $900.00 in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Meta Platforms from $783.00 to $811.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Loop Capital reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $980.00 price target (up previously from $888.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Tuesday, August 5th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on Meta Platforms from $750.00 to $850.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty-nine have assigned a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Meta Platforms presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $822.41.

Meta Platforms Trading Down 0.4%

NASDAQ META traded down $3.43 on Monday, hitting $765.87. The company's stock had a trading volume of 7,597,659 shares, compared to its average volume of 15,441,953. The firm has a market cap of $1.92 trillion, a PE ratio of 27.73, a PEG ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 1.27. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1-year low of $479.80 and a 1-year high of $784.75. The company's 50-day moving average is $714.53 and its 200 day moving average is $651.30. The company has a quick ratio of 1.97, a current ratio of 1.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The social networking company reported $7.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.75 by $1.39. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 39.99% and a return on equity of 39.33%. The business had revenue of $47.52 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $44.55 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $5.16 earnings per share. Meta Platforms's revenue for the quarter was up 21.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Meta Platforms

In other news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 515 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $776.38, for a total transaction of $399,835.70. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 25,035 shares of the company's stock, valued at $19,436,673.30. This trade represents a 2.02% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 517 shares of the firm's 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 of the company's stock, valued at $4,005,049.68. This represents a 8.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 290,263 shares of company stock worth $211,724,057. Company insiders own 13.61% of the company's stock.

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.