Cetera Investment Advisers Sells 28,447 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Cetera Investment Advisers decreased its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 6.2% during the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 433,160 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 28,447 shares during the period. Meta Platforms accounts for about 0.5% of Cetera Investment Advisers’ portfolio, making the stock its 27th largest position. Cetera Investment Advisers’ holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $218,408,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Delos Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 527.3% during the first quarter. Delos Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 69 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $34,000 after buying an additional 58 shares during the period. POM Investment Strategies LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the 2nd quarter worth $38,000. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. boosted its position in Meta Platforms by 122.2% during the second quarter. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. now owns 80 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $40,000 after purchasing an additional 44 shares in the last quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. grew its stake in Meta Platforms by 95.6% in the first quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. now owns 88 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $41,000 after purchasing an additional 43 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Kathleen S. Wright Associates Inc. bought a new position in Meta Platforms in the first quarter worth about $44,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Susan J. Li sold 33,018 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $517.94, for a total transaction of $17,101,342.92. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, insider Christopher K. Cox sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $569.93, for a total value of $5,699,300.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 328,662 shares in the company, valued at $187,314,333.66. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Susan J. Li sold 33,018 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $517.94, for a total value of $17,101,342.92. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 324,751 shares of company stock worth $170,575,643 over the last three months. 13.71% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

NASDAQ:META opened at $572.44 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a current ratio of 2.83 and a quick ratio of 2.83. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $517.89 and a 200-day moving average price of $500.20. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1-year low of $279.40 and a 1-year high of $577.40. The firm has a market cap of $1.45 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 1.21.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 31st. The social networking company reported $5.16 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 company had revenue of $39.07 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $38.26 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $3.23 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 22.1% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 21.36 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 26th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 16th were issued a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.35%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 16th. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is currently 11.49%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. DA Davidson assumed coverage on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Tuesday, September 10th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $600.00 price target on the stock. Bank of America lifted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $563.00 to $630.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, September 26th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on Meta Platforms from $565.00 to $600.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Raymond James raised their price objective on Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $600.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, July 1st. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed an “underperform” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Wednesday, September 4th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, thirty-four have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $593.28.

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.