Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) Stake Lessened by Avior Wealth Management LLC

Avior Wealth Management LLC lowered its holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 18.2% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 18,225 shares of the social networking company's stock after selling 4,062 shares during the period. Avior Wealth Management LLC's holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $10,504,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 191,198,005 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $111,948,344,000 after purchasing an additional 1,502,553 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 2.1% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 49,181,127 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $28,719,970,000 after purchasing an additional 1,020,519 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 2.5% in the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 42,317,434 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $24,777,282,000 after purchasing an additional 1,049,121 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors lifted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 2.9% in the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 40,317,105 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $23,606,338,000 after purchasing an additional 1,141,355 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter valued at $19,949,512,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.91% of the company's stock.

Meta Platforms Trading Down 1.9%

Shares of NASDAQ:META opened at $682.35 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $1.72 trillion, a P/E ratio of 26.61, a P/E/G ratio of 1.68 and a beta of 1.26. The stock's 50-day moving average is $618.10 and its 200-day moving average is $623.14. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 52-week low of $442.65 and a 52-week high of $740.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 2.66 and a current ratio of 2.66.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The social networking company reported $6.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.33 by $1.10. The company had revenue of $42.31 billion for 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 was up 16.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $4.71 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 26th. Investors of record on Monday, June 16th will be given a dividend of $0.525 per share. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.31%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 16th. Meta Platforms's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 8.19%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on META shares. Scotiabank dropped their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $627.00 to $525.00 and set a "sector perform" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 21st. Pivotal Research cut their price objective on Meta Platforms from $875.00 to $830.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Jefferies Financial Group cut their price objective on Meta Platforms from $725.00 to $600.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 7th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on Meta Platforms from $628.00 to $655.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, KeyCorp increased their price objective on Meta Platforms from $645.00 to $655.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, thirty-seven have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $710.00.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 519 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $701.99, for a total transaction of $364,332.81. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 28,664 shares of the company's stock, valued at $20,121,841.36. This trade represents a 1.78% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Robert M. Kimmitt sold 475 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $628.25, for a total value of $298,418.75. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 10,272 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,453,384. This trade represents a 4.42% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 111,031 shares of company stock valued at $73,954,565 over the last three months. 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.

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