Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) Shares Sold by Southern Capital Advisors LLC

Southern Capital Advisors LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 90.8% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 512 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 5,058 shares during the period. Southern Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $249,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Quest Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Clear Investment Research LLC increased its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 411.1% during the 4th quarter. Clear Investment Research LLC now owns 92 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 74 shares in the last quarter. Cranbrook Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in Meta Platforms by 80.4% in the 4th quarter. Cranbrook Wealth Management LLC now owns 101 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $36,000 after acquiring an additional 45 shares in the last quarter. Gilfoyle & Co LLC purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter worth $39,000. Finally, Kathleen S. Wright Associates Inc. purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms in the 1st quarter worth $44,000. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

META has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $593.00 to $625.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday. Loop Capital reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $550.00 price target on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Wednesday, July 3rd. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $555.00 to $500.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 25th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $540.00 to $500.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 25th. Finally, Robert W. Baird dropped their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $525.00 to $500.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 25th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, thirty-seven have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $515.64.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

NASDAQ:META opened at $512.70 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $491.62 and its 200 day moving average price is $464.99. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1-year low of $274.38 and a 1-year high of $542.81. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a current ratio of 2.68 and a quick ratio of 2.68. The firm has a market cap of $1.30 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 1.21.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 24th. The social networking company reported $4.71 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.32 by $0.39. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 32.06% and a return on equity of 32.03%. The firm had revenue of $36.46 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $36.28 billion. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 20.19 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 26th. Investors of record on Friday, June 14th were given a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 14th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.39%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 11.49%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Meta Platforms news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 585 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $498.59, for a total transaction of $291,675.15. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 37,813 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,853,183.67. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, COO Javier Olivan sold 490 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction on Friday, April 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $501.18, for a total transaction of $245,578.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 7,089 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,552,865.02. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 585 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $498.59, for a total value of $291,675.15. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 37,813 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $18,853,183.67. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 294,278 shares of company stock worth $146,060,559. Corporate insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Company 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.