Essex LLC Sells 317 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Essex LLC decreased its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 6.1% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 4,840 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 317 shares during the quarter. Essex LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $2,350,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in META. Modera Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in Meta Platforms by 8.5% during the 3rd quarter. Modera Wealth Management LLC now owns 7,775 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $2,334,000 after purchasing an additional 607 shares during the period. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 180.1% in the 3rd quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. now owns 902 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $271,000 after acquiring an additional 580 shares during the period. Trust Co. of Toledo NA OH lifted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 9.2% in the 4th quarter. Trust Co. of Toledo NA OH now owns 6,174 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $2,185,000 after acquiring an additional 518 shares during the period. FCF Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter worth approximately $4,105,000. Finally, Modus Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 9.9% in the 4th quarter. Modus Advisors LLC now owns 2,423 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $858,000 after acquiring an additional 218 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Meta Platforms

In other news, CFO Susan J. Li sold 8,951 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $471.85, for a total transaction of $4,223,529.35. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 74,580 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $35,190,573. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $533.95, for a total value of $483,224.75. Following the sale, the insider now owns 36,940 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $19,724,113. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO Susan J. Li sold 8,951 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $471.85, for a total value of $4,223,529.35. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 74,580 shares in the company, valued at approximately $35,190,573. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 294,278 shares of company stock valued at $146,060,559 over the last 90 days. 13.71% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have commented on META. KeyCorp raised their price objective on Meta Platforms from $475.00 to $540.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 20th. Truist Financial reduced their price objective on Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $535.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price objective on Meta Platforms from $555.00 to $500.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price objective on Meta Platforms from $585.00 to $540.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reissued an “underperform” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Monday, July 1st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, thirty-seven have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $515.64.

Meta Platforms Trading Down 4.1 %

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

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 24th. The social networking company reported $4.71 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.32 by $0.39. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 32.03% and a net margin of 32.06%. The business had revenue of $36.46 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $36.28 billion. Equities research analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 20.19 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 14th were given a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.39%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 14th. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is currently 11.49%.

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.