Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) Shares Sold by Chesapeake Wealth Management

Chesapeake Wealth Management decreased its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 8.4% during the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 5,537 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 506 shares during the period. Chesapeake Wealth Management’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $2,792,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vantage Financial Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 3.2% in the 4th quarter. Vantage Financial Partners LLC now owns 1,323 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $468,000 after buying an additional 41 shares during the last quarter. Concentrum Wealth Management increased its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 111.0% during the fourth quarter. Concentrum Wealth Management now owns 7,391,877 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $2,616,000 after purchasing an additional 3,888,308 shares in the last quarter. Aveo Capital Partners LLC raised its stake in Meta Platforms by 45.7% in the 4th quarter. Aveo Capital Partners LLC now owns 2,302 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $815,000 after purchasing an additional 722 shares during the last quarter. 9258 Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 66.4% in the 4th quarter. 9258 Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,993 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $1,413,000 after purchasing an additional 1,594 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Rollins Financial grew its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 7.5% during the fourth quarter. Rollins Financial now owns 30,657 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $10,851,000 after buying an additional 2,133 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Trading Up 0.4 %

NASDAQ:META opened at $561.35 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a quick ratio of 2.83 and a current ratio of 2.83. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1 year low of $279.40 and a 1 year high of $564.50. The stock has a market cap of $1.42 trillion, a P/E ratio of 32.24, a P/E/G ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 1.21. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $507.58 and a 200-day simple moving average of $497.27.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The social networking company reported $5.16 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.70 by $0.46. The company had revenue of $39.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $38.26 billion. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 34.34% and a return on equity of 34.16%. The firm’s revenue was up 22.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $3.23 earnings per share. As a group, analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 21.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 26th. Investors of record on Monday, September 16th will be given a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 16th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.36%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 11.49%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Meta Platforms

In other Meta Platforms news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $496.99, for a total transaction of $449,775.95. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 38,750 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $19,258,362.50. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other Meta Platforms news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 16,702 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $510.88, for a total value of $8,532,717.76. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 230,461 shares in the company, valued at $117,737,915.68. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $496.99, for a total transaction of $449,775.95. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 38,750 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $19,258,362.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 346,666 shares of company stock worth $180,145,414 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently weighed in on META. Benchmark restated a “hold” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and set a $570.00 target price on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. Oppenheimer increased their price target on Meta Platforms from $525.00 to $615.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $565.00 to $600.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, Loop Capital boosted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $575.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 6th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, thirty-four have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Meta Platforms currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $577.26.

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.