Venturi Wealth Management LLC Trims Stock Position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Key Points

• Venturi Wealth Management LLC reduced its stake in Meta Platforms by 8.5%, holding 42,220 shares valued at approximately $24.3 million as of the end of the first quarter.
• Multiple institutional investors, including Csenge Advisory Group and Suvretta Capital Management LLC, have recently adjusted their positions in Meta Platforms, indicating active trading interest in the company.
• Meta's stock has received favorable analyst ratings, with numerous research firms increasing their price targets, reflecting a generally optimistic outlook among experts.

Venturi Wealth Management LLC lowered its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 8.5% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 42,220 shares of the social networking company's stock after selling 3,912 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms makes up approximately 1.3% of Venturi Wealth Management LLC's holdings, making the stock its 12th biggest position. Venturi Wealth Management LLC's holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $24,334,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Csenge Advisory Group increased its holdings in Meta Platforms by 12.0% in the 1st quarter. Csenge Advisory Group now owns 9,539 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $5,498,000 after acquiring an additional 1,019 shares in the last quarter. Suvretta Capital Management LLC increased its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 1,850 shares in the last quarter. Skye Global Management LP increased its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 43,200 shares in the last quarter. ARQ Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 34 shares in the last quarter. Finally, JMG Financial Group Ltd. bought a new position in Meta Platforms in the 1st quarter worth approximately $284,000. 79.91% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have weighed in on META shares. Piper Sandler restated an "overweight" rating and issued a $808.00 price target (up from $650.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Friday, June 27th. Roth Capital upped their price target on Meta Platforms from $620.00 to $740.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. Sanford C. Bernstein upped their price target on Meta Platforms from $700.00 to $775.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 22nd. Pivotal Research dropped their price target on Meta Platforms from $875.00 to $830.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price target on Meta Platforms from $650.00 to $750.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, July 21st. 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $752.33.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

NASDAQ:META opened at $712.68 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 2.66 and a current ratio of 2.66. The stock's fifty day moving average is $692.48 and its 200 day moving average is $641.78. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $450.80 and a fifty-two week high of $747.90. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.79 trillion, a PE ratio of 27.80, a PEG ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 1.28.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The social networking company reported $6.43 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $5.33 by $1.10. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 38.69% and a net margin of 39.11%. The business had revenue of $42.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $41.45 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $4.71 earnings per share. The business's revenue was up 16.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 26th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 16th were paid a $0.525 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 16th. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.29%. Meta Platforms's payout ratio is 8.19%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Meta Platforms news, Director Robert M. Kimmitt sold 465 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $723.08, for a total value of $336,232.20. Following the sale, the director owned 9,342 shares in the company, valued at $6,755,013.36. This trade represents a 4.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 517 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, July 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $706.41, for a total value of $365,213.97. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 6,302 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,451,795.82. This represents a 7.58% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 153,473 shares of company stock worth $105,805,440. 13.61% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.

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