First National Advisers LLC Sells 1,694 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Key Points

• First National Advisers LLC reduced its stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. by 6.9% in the first quarter, owning 22,901 shares, which now represents 2.1% of their portfolio.
• A number of hedge funds, including Price T Rowe Associates and Capital World Investors, have increased their stakes in Meta Platforms, indicating strong institutional interest in the company.
• Meta reported earnings of $7.14 per share for the last quarter, exceeding analyst expectations, with revenue reaching $47.52 billion, a year-over-year increase of 21.6%.

First National Advisers LLC reduced its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 6.9% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 22,901 shares of the social networking company's stock after selling 1,694 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms accounts for about 2.1% of First National Advisers LLC's holdings, making the stock its 9th biggest position. First National Advisers LLC's holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $13,200,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in META. Csenge Advisory Group raised its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 12.0% in the first quarter. Csenge Advisory Group now owns 9,539 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $5,498,000 after purchasing an additional 1,019 shares during the period. Suvretta Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Meta Platforms by 1.1% in the 4th quarter. Suvretta Capital Management LLC now owns 170,338 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $99,735,000 after buying an additional 1,850 shares in the last quarter. Skye Global Management LP grew its stake in Meta Platforms by 130.9% in the 4th quarter. Skye Global Management LP now owns 76,200 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $44,616,000 after buying an additional 43,200 shares in the last quarter. ARQ Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in Meta Platforms by 4.5% in the 1st quarter. ARQ Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 785 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $452,000 after buying an additional 34 shares in the last quarter. Finally, JMG Financial Group Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the 1st quarter valued at $284,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.91% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In other Meta Platforms news, Director Robert M. Kimmitt sold 465 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $723.08, for a total transaction of $336,232.20. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 9,342 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $6,755,013.36. This represents a 4.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 519 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $719.86, for a total transaction of $373,607.34. Following the transaction, the insider owned 25,550 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,392,423. This trade represents a 1.99% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 152,980 shares of company stock valued at $105,708,832. Corporate insiders own 13.61% of the company's stock.

Meta Platforms Stock Down 3.0%

Shares of META stock traded down $23.43 on Friday, hitting $750.01. The stock had a trading volume of 18,985,910 shares, compared to its average volume of 12,087,110. The company has a quick ratio of 2.66, a current ratio of 1.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $701.68 and a 200 day moving average price of $645.68. The company has a market cap of $1.89 trillion, a PE ratio of 27.15, a P/E/G ratio of 1.84 and a beta of 1.27. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a one year low of $450.80 and a one year high of $784.75.

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

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 26th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 16th were given a dividend of $0.525 per share. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 16th. Meta Platforms's dividend payout ratio is presently 8.19%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

META has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. TD Securities lowered their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $725.00 to $700.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $783.00 to $811.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $740.00 to $840.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday. Rosenblatt Securities increased their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $846.00 to $918.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, KeyCorp increased their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $800.00 to $905.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, forty have given a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $815.09.

Meta Platforms 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.