UNIVEST FINANCIAL Corp Sells 1,892 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Key Points

• UNIVEST FINANCIAL Corp reduced its stake in Meta Platforms by 3.0%, now holding 62,052 shares valued at approximately $35.76 million.
• Meta Platforms reported Q2 earnings of $7.14 per share, significantly exceeding expectations and reflecting a 21.6% increase in revenue compared to the previous year.
• Several analysts raised their price targets for Meta Platforms; Wells Fargo's new target is $811, while Wedbush set a target of $920.

UNIVEST FINANCIAL Corp lowered its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 3.0% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 62,052 shares of the social networking company's stock after selling 1,892 shares during the period. Meta Platforms makes up 2.3% of UNIVEST FINANCIAL Corp's holdings, making the stock its 8th largest position. UNIVEST FINANCIAL Corp's holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $35,764,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Baker Avenue Asset Management LP raised its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 3.4% in the 1st quarter. Baker Avenue Asset Management LP now owns 33,728 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $19,440,000 after buying an additional 1,102 shares in the last quarter. Hurlow Wealth Management Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 5.9% in the 1st quarter. Hurlow Wealth Management Group Inc. now owns 995 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $573,000 after buying an additional 55 shares in the last quarter. Commerce Bank raised its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 21.6% in the 1st quarter. Commerce Bank now owns 331,278 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $190,935,000 after buying an additional 58,767 shares in the last quarter. ProVise Management Group LLC raised its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 7.5% in the 1st quarter. ProVise Management Group LLC now owns 19,327 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $11,139,000 after buying an additional 1,356 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 8,705.7% in the 1st quarter. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. now owns 144,941 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $83,538,000 after buying an additional 143,295 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.91% of the company's stock.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

NASDAQ META traded up $7.47 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $769.30. 7,308,601 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 13,419,927. The stock has a market cap of $1.93 trillion, a PE ratio of 27.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.58 and a beta of 1.27. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a one year low of $479.80 and a one year high of $784.75. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $714.53 and a 200-day moving average of $651.01. The company has a current ratio of 1.97, a quick ratio of 1.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last released its 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 company had revenue of $47.52 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $44.55 billion. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 39.33% and a net margin of 39.99%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 21.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $5.16 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 26th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 16th were given a dividend of $0.525 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 16th. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.3%. Meta Platforms's payout ratio is presently 7.60%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently commented on the company. Piper Sandler boosted their target price on Meta Platforms from $808.00 to $880.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Meta Platforms from $783.00 to $811.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. UBS Group boosted their target price on Meta Platforms from $812.00 to $897.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Bank of America boosted their target price on Meta Platforms from $775.00 to $900.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their target price on Meta Platforms from $740.00 to $840.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty-nine have assigned a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $822.41.

Insider Transactions at Meta Platforms

In other news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 15,847 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $768.67, for a total transaction of $12,181,113.49. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Christopher K. Cox sold 15,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $767.80, for a total value of $11,517,000.00. Following the sale, the insider owned 222,205 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $170,608,999. The trade was a 6.32% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 275,024 shares of company stock worth $199,983,159. Insiders own 13.61% of the company's stock.

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.