Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) Shares Sold by Rational Advisors Inc.

Rational Advisors Inc. lowered its stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 9.1% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 6,358 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 633 shares during the period. Rational Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $3,664,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of META. Grant GrossMendelsohn LLC bought a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $202,000. Riversedge Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 13.7% in the first quarter. Riversedge Advisors LLC now owns 1,660 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $957,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares during the period. IFC Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 513.2% in the first quarter. IFC Advisors LLC now owns 2,882 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $1,661,000 after purchasing an additional 2,412 shares during the period. American Financial Advisors LLC increased its stake in Meta Platforms by 3.9% during the first quarter. American Financial Advisors LLC now owns 2,824 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $1,628,000 after purchasing an additional 105 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fulcrum Equity Management raised its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 6.8% during the first quarter. Fulcrum Equity Management now owns 711 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $410,000 after purchasing an additional 45 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently commented on META. TD Securities decreased their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $725.00 to $700.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Guggenheim lifted their target price on Meta Platforms from $675.00 to $725.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Robert W. Baird upped their target price on Meta Platforms from $635.00 to $740.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 2nd. Jefferies Financial Group cut their price target on Meta Platforms from $725.00 to $600.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 7th. Finally, Scotiabank reduced their price objective on Meta Platforms from $627.00 to $525.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 21st. 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 company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $729.38.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:META opened at $710.39 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.79 trillion, a P/E ratio of 27.71, a P/E/G ratio of 1.76 and a beta of 1.28. The business has a 50-day moving average of $679.66 and a two-hundred day moving average of $635.93. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $442.65 and a fifty-two week 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.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The social networking company reported $6.43 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 the consensus estimate of $41.45 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $4.71 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 26th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 16th were given a $0.525 dividend. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.30%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 16th. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is currently 8.19%.

Insider Transactions at Meta Platforms

In related news, CFO Susan J. Li sold 6,874 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $659.36, for a total transaction of $4,532,440.64. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 70,040 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $46,181,574.40. The trade was a 8.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 13,793 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $701.13, for a total transaction of $9,670,686.09. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 118,279 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $82,928,955.27. This trade represents a 10.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 152,263 shares of company stock worth $104,638,750. Company insiders own 13.61% of the company’s stock.

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.