Checchi Capital Advisers LLC Cuts Stock Position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Checchi Capital Advisers LLC lessened its position in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 1.3% during the first quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 17,897 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 243 shares during the quarter. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $10,315,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Values Added Financial LLC raised its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 2.5% during the 1st quarter. Values Added Financial LLC now owns 1,172 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $675,000 after purchasing an additional 29 shares during the period. Castle Wealth Management LLC increased its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 6.1% during the 1st quarter. Castle Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,524 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $1,455,000 after purchasing an additional 144 shares during the last quarter. North Capital Inc. bought a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the 1st quarter valued at about $1,398,000. Barlow Wealth Partners Inc. increased its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 1,973.1% during the 1st quarter. Barlow Wealth Partners Inc. now owns 27,033 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $14,795,000 after purchasing an additional 25,729 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Boulder Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 3.9% during the 1st quarter. Boulder Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 741 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $427,000 after acquiring an additional 28 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

Shares of Meta Platforms stock opened at $718.35 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $662.26 and a 200 day moving average of $631.21. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12 month low of $442.65 and a 12 month high of $747.90. The firm has a market cap of $1.81 trillion, a PE ratio of 28.02, a PEG ratio of 1.76 and a beta of 1.28. The company has a current ratio of 2.66, a quick ratio of 2.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last posted 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 analyst estimates of $41.45 billion. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 38.69% and a net margin of 39.11%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $4.71 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Royal Bank Of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $740.00 target price on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Pivotal Research dropped their price target on Meta Platforms from $875.00 to $830.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Benchmark dropped their target price on Meta Platforms from $820.00 to $640.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Oppenheimer boosted their target price on Meta Platforms from $665.00 to $775.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, June 16th. Finally, DA Davidson decreased their price target on Meta Platforms from $800.00 to $650.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty-seven have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $719.29.

Insider Transactions at Meta Platforms

In other Meta Platforms news, COO Javier Olivan sold 517 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, June 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $740.97, for a total transaction of $383,081.49. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 7,853 shares in the company, valued at $5,818,837.41. This trade represents a 6.18% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 519 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $737.00, for a total value of $382,503.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 27,626 shares in the company, valued at $20,360,362. The trade was a 1.84% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 152,756 shares of company stock worth $104,720,878. 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.