Petra Financial Advisors Inc. Reduces Stock Position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Petra Financial Advisors Inc. lowered its stake in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 73.8% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 605 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 1,701 shares during the quarter. Petra Financial Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $346,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Central Valley Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Meta Platforms by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. Central Valley Advisors LLC now owns 5,714 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $3,271,000 after buying an additional 18 shares during the period. Cherrydale Wealth Management LLC increased its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.5% in the third quarter. Cherrydale Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,841 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $2,199,000 after acquiring an additional 18 shares in the last quarter. Alliance Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.7% during the third quarter. Alliance Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,787 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $1,595,000 after acquiring an additional 18 shares during the period. Kozak & Associates Inc. boosted its stake in Meta Platforms by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter. Kozak & Associates Inc. now owns 1,906 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $1,099,000 after purchasing an additional 18 shares during the period. Finally, Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC boosted its stake in Meta Platforms by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 3,560 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $2,038,000 after purchasing an additional 18 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on META. Guggenheim increased their target price on Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $665.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, October 7th. Rosenblatt Securities reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $811.00 price objective on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday. TD Cowen lifted their target price on Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $675.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Barclays increased their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $630.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Truist Financial boosted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $570.00 to $650.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, thirty-five have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $634.10.

Meta Platforms Stock Down 0.1 %

META opened at $567.16 on Monday. The business has a 50 day moving average of $555.99 and a 200-day moving average of $513.25. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.43 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.72, a P/E/G ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 1.22. The company has a current ratio of 2.73, a quick ratio of 2.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1-year low of $308.33 and a 1-year high of $602.95.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The social networking company reported $6.03 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.19 by $0.84. The business had revenue of $40.59 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $40.21 billion. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 35.55% and a return on equity of 35.60%. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 21.84 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 26th. Investors of record on Monday, September 16th were given a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 16th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.35%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is presently 9.42%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Meta Platforms news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 420 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $600.17, for a total value of $252,071.40. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 518,004 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $310,890,460.68. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 420 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $600.17, for a total transaction of $252,071.40. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 518,004 shares in the company, valued at approximately $310,890,460.68. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $580.10, for a total transaction of $524,990.50. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 31,482 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,262,708.20. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 251,092 shares of company stock valued at $132,865,496. 13.71% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.