Xcel Wealth Management LLC Sells 626 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Xcel Wealth Management LLC decreased its position in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 12.9% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 4,228 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 626 shares during the quarter. Xcel Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $2,437,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Gutierrez Wealth Advisory LLC grew its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.0% during the 1st quarter. Gutierrez Wealth Advisory LLC now owns 4,516 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $2,603,000 after buying an additional 45 shares during the period. Tandem Investment Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the 1st quarter worth approximately $672,000. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund grew its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.7% during the 1st quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund now owns 188,228 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $108,487,000 after buying an additional 1,328 shares during the period. Clark Asset Management LLC grew its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 85.1% during the 1st quarter. Clark Asset Management LLC now owns 3,460 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $1,994,000 after buying an additional 1,591 shares during the period. Finally, Smart Money Group LLC grew its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 20.4% during the 1st quarter. Smart Money Group LLC now owns 2,052 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $1,182,000 after buying an additional 348 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Meta Platforms

In related news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 2,361 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $716.48, for a total value of $1,691,609.28. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 517 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $740.97, for a total value of $383,081.49. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer owned 7,853 shares in the company, valued at $5,818,837.41. This represents a 6.18% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 152,756 shares of company stock worth $104,720,878. Company insiders own 13.61% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently commented on META shares. Monness Crespi & Hardt raised their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $775.00 to $780.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Truist Financial lifted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $700.00 to $720.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $685.00 to $690.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $690.00 to $803.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 24th. Finally, Piper Sandler reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $808.00 price target (up previously from $650.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Friday, June 27th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty-seven have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $719.29.

Meta Platforms Trading Down 0.1%

NASDAQ META opened at $718.35 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.81 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.02, a PEG ratio of 1.76 and a beta of 1.28. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a one year low of $442.65 and a one year high of $747.90. 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 business’s fifty day moving average is $662.26 and its 200-day moving average is $631.21.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The social networking company reported $6.43 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.33 by $1.10. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 38.69% and a net margin of 39.11%. The company had revenue of $42.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $41.45 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $4.71 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

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

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.