Alliance Wealth Advisors LLC Cuts Holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Alliance Wealth Advisors LLC reduced its position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 1.6% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,782 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 46 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms comprises about 0.9% of Alliance Wealth Advisors LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 17th biggest position. Alliance Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $1,603,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter valued at about $19,949,512,000. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 67,172.9% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 23,452,665 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $13,517,178,000 after acquiring an additional 23,417,803 shares in the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 78,471.1% during the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 6,248,763 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $3,658,713,000 after acquiring an additional 6,240,810 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter valued at about $2,243,603,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp grew its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 13.5% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 23,445,565 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $13,727,613,000 after acquiring an additional 2,787,832 shares in the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Meta Platforms news, COO Javier Olivan sold 406 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $491.69, for a total transaction of $199,626.14. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 4,608 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,265,707.52. This represents a 8.10% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO Susan J. Li sold 6,874 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $659.36, for a total transaction of $4,532,440.64. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 70,040 shares in the company, valued at $46,181,574.40. This represents a 8.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 56,171 shares of company stock valued at $35,163,457. 13.61% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently weighed in on META shares. Guggenheim raised their target price on Meta Platforms from $675.00 to $725.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. KeyCorp lifted their price target on Meta Platforms from $645.00 to $655.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Moffett Nathanson lifted their price target on Meta Platforms from $525.00 to $605.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Susquehanna decreased their price target on Meta Platforms from $800.00 to $700.00 and set a “positive” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Truist Financial lifted their price target on Meta Platforms from $700.00 to $720.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, thirty-seven have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $702.48.

Meta Platforms Stock Up 1.9%

Shares of META opened at $697.71 on Friday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $587.67 and a 200-day simple moving average of $614.84. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.75 trillion, a P/E ratio of 29.17, a P/E/G ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.26. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 2.98 and a current ratio of 2.98. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 52 week low of $442.65 and a 52 week high of $740.91.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The social networking company reported $6.43 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 net margin of 37.91% and a return on equity of 38.17%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $4.71 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 26th. Investors of record on Monday, June 16th will be paid a $0.525 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 16th. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.30%. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is currently 8.19%.

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.