Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp Sells 332 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp cut its stake in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 0.8% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 42,477 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 332 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms makes up approximately 1.5% of Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp’s holdings, making the stock its 13th biggest holding. Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $24,482,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Inlight Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the first quarter worth $25,000. Barnes Dennig Private Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Meta Platforms during the first quarter valued at $28,000. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter valued at $43,000. Marshall & Sterling Wealth Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter valued at $45,000. Finally, JCIC Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in Meta Platforms by 102.6% in the first quarter. JCIC Asset Management Inc. now owns 79 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $46,000 after buying an additional 40 shares in the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 519 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $716.10, for a total transaction of $371,655.90. Following the transaction, the insider owned 26,069 shares in the company, valued at $18,668,010.90. This represents a 1.95% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 2,361 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $716.48, for a total transaction of $1,691,609.28. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 153,473 shares of company stock worth $105,805,440 over the last 90 days. 13.61% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Meta Platforms Trading Up 0.2%

Shares of Meta Platforms stock opened at $714.80 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.80 trillion, a PE ratio of 27.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 1.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 2.66 and a quick ratio of 2.66. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $691.04 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $640.92. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 52-week low of $442.65 and a 52-week high of $747.90.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The social networking company reported $6.43 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.33 by $1.10. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 39.11% and a return on equity of 38.69%. The company had revenue of $42.31 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $41.45 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $4.71 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 26th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 16th were paid a $0.525 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 16th. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.29%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is presently 8.19%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently commented on META. TD Cowen boosted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $700.00 to $800.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. Rosenblatt Securities boosted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $846.00 to $918.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Bank of America upped their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $690.00 to $765.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 10th. Oppenheimer upped their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $665.00 to $775.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, June 16th. Finally, KeyCorp increased their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $655.00 to $800.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 17th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty-eight have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $752.33.

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.