Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) Shares Sold by ARS Wealth Advisors Group LLC

ARS Wealth Advisors Group LLC cut its stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 2.5% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 4,677 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 118 shares during the period. ARS Wealth Advisors Group LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $2,358,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Tennessee Valley Asset Management Partners boosted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Tennessee Valley Asset Management Partners now owns 4,566 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $1,616,000 after buying an additional 27 shares during the period. AIA Group Ltd increased its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 17.5% during the fourth quarter. AIA Group Ltd now owns 56,459 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $19,984,000 after purchasing an additional 8,427 shares during the period. Gray Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter valued at $250,000. Western Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 4.7% during the fourth quarter. Western Wealth Management LLC now owns 16,750 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $5,929,000 after purchasing an additional 756 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fidelis Capital Partners LLC lifted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 16.7% in the fourth quarter. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC now owns 11,119 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $3,936,000 after purchasing an additional 1,589 shares during the period. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have commented on META. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $590.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Barclays boosted their target price on Meta Platforms from $520.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. KeyCorp increased their price target on Meta Platforms from $540.00 to $560.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Truist Financial boosted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $535.00 to $570.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, Benchmark reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating, thirty-three have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $574.41.

Insider Activity

In related news, COO Javier Olivan sold 412 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $472.70, for a total value of $194,752.40. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 15,376 shares in the company, valued at $7,268,235.20. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other Meta Platforms news, COO Javier Olivan sold 412 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $472.70, for a total value of $194,752.40. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 15,376 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,268,235.20. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $476.69, for a total transaction of $431,404.45. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 42,370 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,197,355.30. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 349,174 shares of company stock worth $175,146,777 in the last three months. 13.71% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Meta Platforms Stock Down 1.8 %

Meta Platforms stock opened at $527.42 on Monday. 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 2.83. The firm has a market cap of $1.34 trillion, a PE ratio of 30.29, a P/E/G ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 1.21. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $500.48 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $488.50.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The social networking company reported $5.16 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.70 by $0.46. The business had revenue of $39.07 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $38.26 billion. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 34.34% and a return on equity of 34.16%. Meta Platforms’s revenue for the quarter was up 22.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $3.23 earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 20.5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 14th were paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.38%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 14th. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 11.49%.

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.