RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC Cuts Stock Holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 19.0% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 11,763 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 2,768 shares during the period. Meta Platforms comprises about 1.7% of RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 23rd largest holding. RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $7,765,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC raised its stake in Meta Platforms by 34.2% in the third quarter. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC now owns 52,252 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $38,373,000 after buying an additional 13,311 shares in the last quarter. Keybank National Association OH raised its stake in Meta Platforms by 15.7% in the fourth quarter. Keybank National Association OH now owns 133,798 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $88,319,000 after buying an additional 18,169 shares in the last quarter. Becker Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 5.0% during the third quarter. Becker Capital Management Inc. now owns 35,052 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $25,741,000 after purchasing an additional 1,657 shares in the last quarter. Diversified Trust Co. increased its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 4.1% during the fourth quarter. Diversified Trust Co. now owns 84,059 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $55,487,000 after purchasing an additional 3,336 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cramer Rosenthal Mcglynn LLC increased its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 16.2% during the third quarter. Cramer Rosenthal Mcglynn LLC now owns 6,933 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $5,091,000 after purchasing an additional 968 shares in the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Susan J. Li sold 9,195 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $607.84, for a total transaction of $5,589,088.80. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 13,186 shares in the company, valued at $8,014,978.24. This represents a 41.08% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, insider Curtis J. Mahoney sold 2,079 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $609.92, for a total transaction of $1,268,023.68. Following the sale, the insider owned 1,118 shares in the company, valued at approximately $681,890.56. The trade was a 65.03% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 41,305 shares of company stock valued at $25,567,928. Company insiders own 13.53% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Trading Down 0.3%

NASDAQ:META opened at $566.98 on Friday. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $621.15 and its 200-day moving average price is $635.89. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 52 week low of $520.26 and a 52 week high of $796.25. The company has a quick ratio of 2.35, a current ratio of 2.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24. The stock has a market cap of $1.43 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.61, a PEG ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 1.23.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The social networking company reported $10.44 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.67 by $3.77. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 32.84% and a return on equity of 36.93%. The firm had revenue of $56.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $55.56 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $6.43 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 33.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 29.35 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 25th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.525 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 15th. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.4%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is presently 7.63%.

Trending Headlines about Meta Platforms

Here are the key news stories impacting Meta Platforms this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Meta is expanding its AI infrastructure globally, including a new AI-enabled data center partnership in India with Reliance Industries, reinforcing confidence in its long-term artificial intelligence strategy.
• Positive Sentiment: The company launched Instagram Plus globally, an optional subscription product that could help diversify revenue beyond advertising.
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts and commentary from Morgan Stanley, Zacks, and others continued to describe Meta as a high-quality growth and compounder stock, with recent earnings still viewed as strong.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have weighed in on META. Tigress Financial raised their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $935.00 to $945.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 18th. Piper Sandler began coverage on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Tuesday, June 2nd. They set an “overweight” rating for the company. TD Cowen decreased their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $820.00 to $800.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Susquehanna raised shares of Meta Platforms from a “positive” rating to a “positive” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 2nd. Finally, Benchmark began coverage on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Tuesday, June 2nd. They set a “buy” rating for the company. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-five have given a Buy rating, nine have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $840.60.

About Meta Platforms

Meta Platforms, Inc (NASDAQ: META), formerly Facebook, Inc, is a global technology company best known for building social networking services and immersive computing platforms. Founded in 2004 and headquartered in Menlo Park, California, the company operates a family of consumer-facing products and services that connect users, creators and businesses. In October 2021 the company rebranded as Meta to reflect an expanded strategic focus on augmented and virtual reality technologies alongside its social media businesses.

Meta’s core consumer products include Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp and Messenger, which enable social networking, messaging, content sharing and community building across mobile and desktop devices.