Hamel Associates Inc. Lowers Position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Hamel Associates Inc. decreased its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 3.3% during the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 1,750 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 60 shares during the period. Hamel Associates Inc.’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $882,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Delos Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 527.3% in the 1st quarter. Delos Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 69 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 58 shares in the last quarter. POM Investment Strategies LLC purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms during the second quarter valued at approximately $38,000. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. boosted its stake in Meta Platforms by 122.2% in the second quarter. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. now owns 80 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $40,000 after acquiring an additional 44 shares in the last quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. grew its holdings in Meta Platforms by 95.6% in the first quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. now owns 88 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $41,000 after purchasing an additional 43 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Quest Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter worth $32,000. Institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Meta Platforms

In other Meta Platforms news, CFO Susan J. Li sold 8,950 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $526.76, for a total transaction of $4,714,502.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 74,579 shares in the company, valued at $39,285,234.04. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $520.00, for a total value of $470,600.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 38,722 shares in the company, valued at $20,135,440. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Susan J. Li sold 8,950 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $526.76, for a total value of $4,714,502.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 74,579 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $39,285,234.04. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 390,977 shares of company stock valued at $202,384,548. 13.71% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Meta Platforms Trading Down 3.2 %

Shares of Meta Platforms stock opened at $500.27 on Monday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $505.18 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $494.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a quick ratio of 2.83 and a current ratio of 2.83. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $279.40 and a fifty-two week high of $544.23. The company has a market cap of $1.27 trillion, a P/E ratio of 28.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 1.21.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last released 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. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 34.16% and a net margin of 34.34%. The company had revenue of $39.07 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $38.26 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $3.23 EPS. Meta Platforms’s quarterly revenue was up 22.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 21.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 26th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 16th will be given a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 16th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.40%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 11.49%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Needham & Company LLC reissued an “underperform” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Wednesday, September 4th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on Meta Platforms from $565.00 to $600.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $525.00 to $585.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Tigress Financial lifted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $575.00 to $645.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 16th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $570.00 target price on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating, thirty-three have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $576.66.

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.