Meta Platforms, Inc. $META Shares Sold by Burford Brothers Inc.

Burford Brothers Inc. cut its holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 2.6% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 5,668 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 153 shares during the period. Meta Platforms comprises about 1.9% of Burford Brothers Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 12th largest position. Burford Brothers Inc.’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $4,184,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in META. Csenge Advisory Group boosted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 12.0% in the 1st quarter. Csenge Advisory Group now owns 9,539 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $5,498,000 after buying an additional 1,019 shares in the last quarter. ARQ Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in Meta Platforms by 4.5% in the first quarter. ARQ Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 785 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $452,000 after acquiring an additional 34 shares during the last quarter. JMG Financial Group Ltd. purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms in the first quarter valued at $284,000. Infusive Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in Meta Platforms by 10.7% in the first quarter. Infusive Asset Management Inc. now owns 23,620 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $13,614,000 after acquiring an additional 2,285 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Spirepoint Private Client LLC grew its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 2.7% during the second quarter. Spirepoint Private Client LLC now owns 4,080 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $3,011,000 after purchasing an additional 109 shares during the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

NASDAQ META opened at $751.44 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.97, a quick ratio of 1.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. The business’s 50 day moving average is $741.78 and its two-hundred day moving average is $694.67. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12-month low of $479.80 and a 12-month high of $796.25. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.89 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.21, a PEG ratio of 1.59 and a beta of 1.20.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The social networking company reported $7.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.75 by $1.39. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 39.33% and a net margin of 39.99%.The company had revenue of $47.52 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $44.55 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $5.16 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 21.6% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 29th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 22nd were issued a $0.525 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 22nd. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.3%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is 7.60%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

META has been the subject of several research reports. Wedbush boosted their target price on Meta Platforms from $750.00 to $920.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. DA Davidson increased their price objective on Meta Platforms from $650.00 to $825.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Bank of America lifted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $775.00 to $900.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $845.00 to $900.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-nine have given a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $829.66.

Insider Activity at Meta Platforms

In other Meta Platforms news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 519 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $736.37, for a total transaction of $382,176.03. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 28,275 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,820,861.75. This trade represents a 1.80% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Robert M. Kimmitt sold 465 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $716.97, for a total transaction of $333,391.05. Following the transaction, the director owned 7,947 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,697,760.59. The trade was a 5.53% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last three months, insiders have sold 213,146 shares of company stock valued at $164,208,279. Insiders own 13.61% of the company’s stock.

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.