WealthPlan Investment Management LLC Lowers Position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Key Points

• WealthPlan Investment Management LLC reduced its holdings in Meta Platforms by 5.6% in Q1, owning 21,539 shares valued at approximately $12.4 million.
• Several institutional investors significantly increased their stakes in Meta Platforms, with GAMMA Investing LLC raising its position by nearly 67,172.9% during the same period.
• Meta Platforms reported $7.14 EPS in its latest quarterly earnings, surpassing estimates and reflecting a year-over-year revenue increase of 21.6%.

WealthPlan Investment Management LLC decreased its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 5.6% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 21,539 shares of the social networking company's stock after selling 1,287 shares during the period. Meta Platforms accounts for about 1.2% of WealthPlan Investment Management LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 20th largest position. WealthPlan Investment Management LLC's holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $12,414,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Valley Financial Group Inc. raised its position in Meta Platforms by 2.4% in the 4th quarter. Valley Financial Group Inc. now owns 588 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $344,000 after purchasing an additional 14 shares during the last quarter. Lantern Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Lantern Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,976 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $1,743,000 after acquiring an additional 14 shares during the last quarter. ABLE Financial Group LLC raised its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. ABLE Financial Group LLC now owns 2,136 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $1,251,000 after acquiring an additional 15 shares during the last quarter. Mosaic Family Wealth Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. Mosaic Family Wealth Partners LLC now owns 1,435 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $840,000 after purchasing an additional 17 shares during the period. Finally, Orin Green Financial LLC grew its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 2.2% during the fourth quarter. Orin Green Financial LLC now owns 795 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $465,000 after purchasing an additional 17 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.91% of the company's stock.

Meta Platforms Trading Up 0.3%

NASDAQ:META traded up $2.35 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $782.43. 6,732,904 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 15,334,524. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.97 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.64 and a beta of 1.27. The company has a current ratio of 1.97, a quick ratio of 1.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a one year low of $479.80 and a one year high of $795.46. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $720.73 and a 200 day simple moving average of $653.97.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results 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. 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 analyst estimates of $44.55 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $5.16 EPS. Meta Platforms's revenue for the quarter was up 21.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 26th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 16th were issued 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 dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 7.60%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on META shares. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $685.00 to $690.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Needham & Company LLC raised Meta Platforms from an "underperform" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 3rd. Truist Financial upped their price objective on Meta Platforms from $700.00 to $720.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. HSBC raised Meta Platforms from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $610.00 to $900.00 in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, Moffett Nathanson upped their price objective on Meta Platforms from $525.00 to $605.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty-nine have given a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $822.41.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Christopher K. Cox sold 15,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 6th. The stock was 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 directly owned 222,205 shares in the company, valued at $170,608,999. This trade represents a 6.32% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 517 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $770.00, for a total value of $398,090.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer owned 4,751 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,658,270. This represents a 9.81% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 292,211 shares of company stock valued at $215,232,155. 13.61% of the stock is currently owned by 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.