Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) Shares Sold by Allegheny Financial Group

Allegheny Financial Group lowered its position in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 11.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 1,099 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 136 shares during the period. Allegheny Financial Group’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $644,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of META. Howard Capital Management Group LLC boosted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 17.9% during the third quarter. Howard Capital Management Group LLC now owns 1,652 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $946,000 after buying an additional 251 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its position in Meta Platforms by 6.5% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 3,368,361 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $1,928,185,000 after acquiring an additional 204,412 shares during the period. SOA Wealth Advisors LLC. raised its stake in Meta Platforms by 9.1% during the 3rd quarter. SOA Wealth Advisors LLC. now owns 3,219 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $1,842,000 after acquiring an additional 269 shares in the last quarter. Aldebaran Financial Inc. boosted its position in Meta Platforms by 10.2% during the 3rd quarter. Aldebaran Financial Inc. now owns 2,853 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $1,633,000 after acquiring an additional 264 shares during the period. Finally, Te Ahumairangi Investment Management Ltd grew its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 9.5% in the third quarter. Te Ahumairangi Investment Management Ltd now owns 17,048 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $9,704,000 after purchasing an additional 1,480 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Meta Platforms

In other Meta Platforms news, COO Javier Olivan sold 413 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $676.00, for a total transaction of $279,188.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 15,449 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,443,524. This represents a 2.60 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 12,975 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $706.72, for a total value of $9,169,692.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 172,046 shares in the company, valued at approximately $121,588,349.12. This trade represents a 7.01 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 237,017 shares of company stock worth $167,207,524 in the last 90 days. 13.71% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:META opened at $572.21 on Friday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $576.50 and a 200 day simple moving average of $603.54. The company has a current ratio of 2.98, a quick ratio of 2.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1 year low of $432.28 and a 1 year high of $740.91. The firm has a market cap of $1.45 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.92, a P/E/G ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.28.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The social networking company reported $6.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.33 by $1.10. The business had revenue of $42.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $41.45 billion. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 38.17% and a net margin of 37.91%. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $4.71 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 16.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th were given a $0.525 dividend. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.37%. This is an increase from Meta Platforms’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is currently 8.78%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on META shares. Argus set a $775.00 price objective on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $685.00 to $690.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday. Piper Sandler increased their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $610.00 to $650.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday. Cantor Fitzgerald boosted their target price on Meta Platforms from $624.00 to $676.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price target on Meta Platforms from $725.00 to $600.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 7th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, thirty-seven have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $688.63.

Meta Platforms Company 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.