Sheets Smith Wealth Management Sells 948 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Sheets Smith Wealth Management lowered its stake in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 42.9% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,261 shares of the social networking company's stock after selling 948 shares during the quarter. Sheets Smith Wealth Management's holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $727,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in META. Inlight Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the 1st quarter worth $25,000. Millstone Evans Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter worth $40,000. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter worth $43,000. Marshall & Sterling Wealth Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter worth $45,000. Finally, Stuart Chaussee & Associates Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter worth $47,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.91% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 519 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $704.89, for a total transaction of $365,837.91. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 28,145 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $19,839,129.05. This represents a 1.81% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 1,462 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $701.13, for a total value of $1,025,052.06. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 139,538 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $97,834,277.94. The trade was a 1.04% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 124,831 shares of company stock valued at $83,868,872. Insiders own 13.61% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

META has been the topic of a number of research reports. Benchmark dropped their price objective on Meta Platforms from $820.00 to $640.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company reissued an "overweight" rating and issued a $664.00 price objective on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Tuesday, June 17th. Loop Capital boosted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $695.00 to $888.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, May 16th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on Meta Platforms from $685.00 to $690.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Susquehanna decreased their price target on Meta Platforms from $800.00 to $700.00 and set a "positive" rating for the company in a research 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 given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $719.52.

Meta Platforms Stock Up 1.0%

META stock traded up $7.54 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $733.63. The stock had a trading volume of 18,758,104 shares, compared to its average volume of 14,525,798. The company has a current ratio of 2.66, a quick ratio of 2.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.84 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.61, a PEG ratio of 1.74 and a beta of 1.26. The company has a fifty day moving average of $633.87 and a 200 day moving average of $625.73. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1-year low of $442.65 and a 1-year high of $740.91.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 business had revenue of $42.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 firm posted $4.71 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 26th. Stockholders 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 dividend yield of 0.29%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 16th. Meta Platforms's dividend payout ratio is 8.19%.

Meta Platforms Company 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.