Smith Salley Wealth Management reduced its stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 8.3% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 74,280 shares of the social networking company's stock after selling 6,735 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms makes up 2.8% of Smith Salley Wealth Management's investment portfolio, making the stock its 6th largest holding. Smith Salley Wealth Management's holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $42,812,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.
Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in META. Opulen Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter worth about $325,000. Brighton Jones LLC raised its holdings in Meta Platforms by 1.7% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 34,551 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $20,230,000 after acquiring an additional 570 shares in the last quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC raised its holdings in Meta Platforms by 10.2% in the 4th quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 9,456 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $5,537,000 after acquiring an additional 875 shares in the last quarter. SOA Wealth Advisors LLC. raised its holdings in Meta Platforms by 5.5% in the 4th quarter. SOA Wealth Advisors LLC. now owns 3,397 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $1,989,000 after acquiring an additional 178 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG raised its holdings in Meta Platforms by 3.5% in the 4th quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG now owns 221,459 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $129,666,000 after acquiring an additional 7,587 shares in the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.
Insider Activity
In other news, CFO Susan J. Li sold 6,874 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $659.36, for a total value 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 position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 13,793 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $701.13, for a total value of $9,670,686.09. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 118,279 shares of the company's stock, valued at $82,928,955.27. The trade was a 10.44% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 154,285 shares of company stock worth $105,518,153 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 13.61% of the company's stock.
Meta Platforms Stock Performance
Shares of Meta Platforms stock opened at $716.91 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $1.80 trillion, a PE ratio of 27.96, a PEG ratio of 1.76 and a beta of 1.28. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12 month low of $442.65 and a 12 month high of $747.90. 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's fifty day simple moving average is $658.89 and its 200 day simple moving average is $629.81.
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, topping the consensus estimate of $5.33 by $1.10. The business 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 quarter last year, the business posted $4.71 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current year.
Meta Platforms Announces Dividend
The company also recently announced 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 0.29%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 16th. Meta Platforms's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 8.19%.
Wall Street Analyst Weigh In
Several research firms have recently weighed in on META. UBS Group reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $812.00 price objective (up from $683.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday, June 26th. Rosenblatt Securities upped their price objective on Meta Platforms from $846.00 to $918.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Barclays lowered their price objective on Meta Platforms from $705.00 to $640.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Evercore ISI increased their price target on Meta Platforms from $725.00 to $750.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Moffett Nathanson increased their price target on Meta Platforms from $525.00 to $605.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty-seven have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $719.29.
Read Our Latest Stock Analysis on Meta Platforms
About Meta Platforms
(
Free Report)
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.
Featured Stories
This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.
Before you consider Meta Platforms, you'll want to hear this.
MarketBeat keeps track of Wall Street's top-rated and best performing research analysts and the stocks they recommend to their clients on a daily basis. MarketBeat has identified the five stocks that top analysts are quietly whispering to their clients to buy now before the broader market catches on... and Meta Platforms wasn't on the list.
While Meta Platforms currently has a Moderate Buy rating among analysts, top-rated analysts believe these five stocks are better buys.
View The Five Stocks Here
Thinking about investing in Meta, Roblox, or Unity? Enter your email to learn what streetwise investors need to know about the metaverse and public markets before making an investment.
Get This Free Report
