E&G Advisors LP Decreases Stock Holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

E&G Advisors LP decreased its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 0.9% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 7,560 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 70 shares during the period. Meta Platforms comprises approximately 1.2% of E&G Advisors LP’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 17th largest holding. E&G Advisors LP’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $4,357,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Fjell Capital LLC purchased a new position in Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter valued at $1,836,000. Opulen Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter valued at $325,000. Daner Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter valued at $334,000. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 1.7% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 34,551 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $20,230,000 after purchasing an additional 570 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA purchased a new position in Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter valued at $112,406,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

NASDAQ META opened at $733.63 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $1.84 trillion, a P/E ratio of 28.61, a P/E/G ratio of 1.79 and a beta of 1.26. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 2.66 and a quick ratio of 2.66. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $638.51 and a two-hundred day moving average of $626.52. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1-year low of $442.65 and a 1-year high of $740.91.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The social networking company reported $6.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.33 by $1.10. The business had revenue of $42.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $41.45 billion. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 38.69% and a net margin of 39.11%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 16.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $4.71 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 26th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 16th were paid a $0.525 dividend. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.29%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 16th. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is presently 8.19%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have weighed in on META. Raymond James Financial decreased their price objective on Meta Platforms from $800.00 to $750.00 and set a “strong-buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Pivotal Research cut their target price on Meta Platforms from $875.00 to $830.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Jefferies Financial Group cut their target price on Meta Platforms from $725.00 to $600.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 7th. Rosenblatt Securities raised their target price on Meta Platforms from $846.00 to $918.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Meta Platforms from $615.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, thirty-seven have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $719.52.

Insider Activity

In other news, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 5,057 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $659.36, for a total value of $3,334,383.52. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief technology officer now owns 16,463 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,855,043.68. This trade represents a 23.50% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 1,462 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $701.13, for a total value of $1,025,052.06. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 139,538 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $97,834,277.94. The trade was a 1.04% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 124,831 shares of company stock worth $83,868,872. 13.61% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Meta Platforms 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.