MCF Advisors LLC Sells 186 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

MCF Advisors LLC lowered its holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 3.8% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 4,740 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 186 shares during the quarter. MCF Advisors LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $2,302,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Trust Co. of Virginia VA bought a new stake in Meta Platforms during the first quarter worth about $242,000. First Dallas Securities Inc. grew its stake in Meta Platforms by 1.0% during the first quarter. First Dallas Securities Inc. now owns 8,286 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $4,024,000 after buying an additional 80 shares during the last quarter. Hodges Capital Management Inc. grew its stake in Meta Platforms by 2.5% during the first quarter. Hodges Capital Management Inc. now owns 7,981 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $3,876,000 after buying an additional 192 shares during the last quarter. Occidental Asset Management LLC grew its stake in Meta Platforms by 14.8% during the first quarter. Occidental Asset Management LLC now owns 25,800 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $12,528,000 after buying an additional 3,327 shares during the last quarter. Finally, WD Rutherford LLC bought a new stake in Meta Platforms during the first quarter worth about $982,000. Institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Meta Platforms

In related news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 585 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $522.00, for a total value of $305,370.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 38,398 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,043,756. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 585 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $522.00, for a total value of $305,370.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 38,398 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,043,756. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Nicholas Clegg sold 1,135 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $471.85, for a total transaction of $535,549.75. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 8,753 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,130,103.05. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 233,512 shares of company stock valued at $113,597,536. Corporate insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have weighed in on META shares. JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market outperform” rating and set a $550.00 price objective on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. BNP Paribas began coverage on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday, May 2nd. They set an “underperform” rating and a $360.00 price target on the stock. Guggenheim decreased their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $520.00 to $500.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 25th. Rosenblatt Securities increased their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $520.00 to $562.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 25th. Finally, Robert W. Baird decreased their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $525.00 to $500.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 25th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, thirty-seven have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Meta Platforms presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $510.05.

Meta Platforms Trading Down 3.0 %

Shares of NASDAQ:META opened at $504.22 on Friday. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12 month low of $274.38 and a 12 month high of $531.49. The company has a quick ratio of 2.68, a current ratio of 2.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $480.00 and its 200 day simple moving average is $454.77. The firm has a market cap of $1.28 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.96, a PEG ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 1.21.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The social networking company reported $4.71 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.32 by $0.39. The business had revenue of $36.46 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $36.28 billion. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 32.06% and a return on equity of 32.03%. As a group, research analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 20.16 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 26th. Investors of record on Friday, June 14th were given a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.40%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 14th. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 11.49%.

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.