Obermeyer Wealth Partners Sells 3,147 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Key Points

• Obermeyer Wealth Partners sold 3,147 shares of Meta Platforms, reducing its holdings by 3.8%, with the remaining 79,226 shares valued at approximately $45.66 million.
• Insider selling was notable, with CFO Susan J. Li and CTO Andrew Bosworth selling a combined 29,323 shares, reflecting significant decreases in their ownership stakes.
• Analysts have a generally positive outlook on Meta, with an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a price target of $752.33, as several firms have recently adjusted their price targets higher.

Obermeyer Wealth Partners lowered its stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 3.8% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 79,226 shares of the social networking company's stock after selling 3,147 shares during the period. Meta Platforms accounts for 2.4% of Obermeyer Wealth Partners' portfolio, making the stock its 12th largest position. Obermeyer Wealth Partners' holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $45,663,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of META. Inlight Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the 1st quarter valued at $25,000. Barnes Dennig Private Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the 1st quarter valued at $28,000. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter valued at $43,000. Marshall & Sterling Wealth Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter valued at $45,000. Finally, JCIC Asset Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 102.6% during the 1st quarter. JCIC Asset Management Inc. now owns 79 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $46,000 after acquiring an additional 40 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.91% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Meta Platforms news, CFO Susan J. Li sold 6,874 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $659.36, for a total transaction of $4,532,440.64. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 70,040 shares in the company, valued at $46,181,574.40. This trade represents a 8.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 22,449 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $636.85, for a total transaction of $14,296,645.65. Following the completion of the sale, the chief technology officer owned 1,183 shares of the company's stock, valued at $753,393.55. This trade represents a 94.99% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 151,944 shares of company stock worth $104,965,570 over the last three months. 13.61% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Meta Platforms Stock Down 0.9%

Meta Platforms stock traded down $6.16 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $711.47. The stock had a trading volume of 3,558,057 shares, compared to its average volume of 15,318,961. The company has a quick ratio of 2.66, a current ratio of 2.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.79 trillion, a P/E ratio of 27.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 1.28. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12-month low of $450.80 and a 12-month high of $747.90. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $694.03 and its 200-day moving average price is $642.71.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The social networking company reported $6.43 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.33 by $1.10. The firm had revenue of $42.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $41.45 billion. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 39.11% and a return on equity of 38.69%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 16.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $4.71 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

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 $0.525 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 16th. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.30%. Meta Platforms's payout ratio is currently 8.19%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

META has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Guggenheim reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $800.00 price target (up previously from $725.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Monday. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $650.00 to $750.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, July 21st. Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $700.00 to $775.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $725.00 to $600.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 7th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $740.00 target price on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty-eight have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $754.07.

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.