Quest Partners LLC Sells 676 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Quest Partners LLC lessened its stake in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 62.8% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 400 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 676 shares during the period. Quest Partners LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $202,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Clear Investment Research LLC boosted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 411.1% during the 4th quarter. Clear Investment Research LLC now owns 92 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 74 shares during the period. Delos Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 527.3% during the first quarter. Delos Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 69 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 58 shares during the last quarter. POM Investment Strategies LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the second quarter worth approximately $38,000. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. increased its stake in Meta Platforms by 122.2% in the second quarter. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. now owns 80 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $40,000 after purchasing an additional 44 shares during the period. Finally, Richardson Financial Services Inc. lifted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 95.6% during the 1st quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. now owns 88 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $41,000 after buying an additional 43 shares in the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

META has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Meta Platforms from $625.00 to $647.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Guggenheim increased their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $500.00 to $600.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Cantor Fitzgerald started coverage on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday, September 5th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $660.00 price target for the company. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $575.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities upped their target price on Meta Platforms from $562.00 to $643.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating, thirty-four have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Meta Platforms currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $577.26.

Insider Activity at Meta Platforms

In other Meta Platforms news, COO Javier Olivan sold 412 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $502.00, for a total value of $206,824.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 7,619 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,824,738. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Meta Platforms news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 150 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $500.49, for a total transaction of $75,073.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 124,387 shares in the company, valued at $62,254,449.63. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 412 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $502.00, for a total transaction of $206,824.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 7,619 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,824,738. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 357,574 shares of company stock worth $185,587,773 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Stock Down 0.2 %

Meta Platforms stock opened at $524.62 on Monday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $505.13 and its 200 day moving average price is $495.51. The company has a quick ratio of 2.83, a current ratio of 2.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. The firm has a market cap of $1.33 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 1.21. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 52 week low of $279.40 and a 52 week high of $544.23.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 31st. The social networking company reported $5.16 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.70 by $0.46. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 34.34% and a return on equity of 34.16%. The business had revenue of $39.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $38.26 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $3.23 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 22.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 21.36 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 26th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 16th will be paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.38%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 16th. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio 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.