Brendel Financial Advisors LLC Has $2.05 Million Stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Brendel Financial Advisors LLC decreased its position in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 14.8% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 4,060 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 703 shares during the quarter. Brendel Financial Advisors LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $2,047,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Baird Financial Group Inc. boosted its position in Meta Platforms by 24.2% during the fourth quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 835,972 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $295,901,000 after purchasing an additional 163,067 shares during the period. California State Teachers Retirement System grew its holdings in Meta Platforms by 1.5% in the 4th quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 3,576,285 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $1,265,862,000 after buying an additional 51,900 shares in the last quarter. Donoghue Forlines LLC boosted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 94.4% in the fourth quarter. Donoghue Forlines LLC now owns 8,349 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $2,955,000 after acquiring an additional 4,054 shares during the period. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. grew its position in Meta Platforms by 7.7% during the fourth quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 451,581 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $159,841,000 after buying an additional 32,423 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Voyager Global Management LP boosted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 37.3% in the 4th quarter. Voyager Global Management LP now owns 515,000 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $182,289,000 after purchasing an additional 140,000 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

META has been the subject of several recent research reports. Citigroup increased their price target on Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $580.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. TD Cowen upped their target price on Meta Platforms from $530.00 to $600.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 10th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their target price on Meta Platforms from $565.00 to $600.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $570.00 target price on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $570.00 price objective on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, thirty-three have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Meta Platforms currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $572.51.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 16,702 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $513.09, for a total value of $8,569,629.18. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 98,654 shares in the company, valued at approximately $50,618,380.86. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other Meta Platforms news, CFO Susan J. Li sold 8,951 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $471.85, for a total transaction of $4,223,529.35. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 74,580 shares in the company, valued at approximately $35,190,573. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 16,702 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, August 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $513.09, for a total value of $8,569,629.18. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 98,654 shares in the company, valued at approximately $50,618,380.86. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 335,860 shares of company stock worth $167,199,478 over the last 90 days. 13.71% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Meta Platforms Trading Up 2.1 %

Meta Platforms stock traded up $10.87 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $526.82. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 9,121,073 shares, compared to its average volume of 16,396,840. The company has a current ratio of 2.83, a quick ratio of 2.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.34 trillion, a PE ratio of 30.06, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 1.21. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $497.26 and its two-hundred day moving average is $484.74. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1 year low of $274.38 and a 1 year high of $542.81.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The social networking company reported $5.16 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.70 by $0.46. The business had revenue of $39.07 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $38.26 billion. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 34.16% and a net margin of 34.34%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 22.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $3.23 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 20.5 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 14th were paid a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.38%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 14th. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is presently 11.49%.

About Meta Platforms

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.