Chico Wealth RIA Sells 32 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Chico Wealth RIA decreased its position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 2.5% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 1,256 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 32 shares during the period. Meta Platforms accounts for 0.6% of Chico Wealth RIA’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 15th biggest holding. Chico Wealth RIA’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $633,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the business. Quest Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Clear Investment Research LLC lifted its stake in Meta Platforms by 411.1% in the fourth quarter. Clear Investment Research LLC now owns 92 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 74 shares during the last quarter. Delos Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Meta Platforms by 527.3% during the first quarter. Delos Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 69 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 58 shares during the period. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. grew its holdings in Meta Platforms by 122.2% during the second quarter. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. now owns 80 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $40,000 after purchasing an additional 44 shares during the period. Finally, Richardson Financial Services Inc. increased its position in Meta Platforms by 95.6% in the first quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. now owns 88 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $41,000 after buying an additional 43 shares during the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Meta Platforms Stock Down 0.5 %

NASDAQ:META traded down $2.55 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $526.73. 7,918,727 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 16,270,597. The company has a market cap of $1.34 trillion, a PE ratio of 30.38, a P/E/G ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 1.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a current ratio of 2.83 and a quick ratio of 2.68. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a one year low of $276.03 and a one year high of $542.81. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $501.01 and a 200 day moving average price of $489.45.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The social networking company reported $5.16 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.70 by $0.46. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 34.16% and a net margin of 34.34%. The firm had revenue of $39.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $38.26 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $3.23 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 22.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 20.5 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

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

Insider Transactions at Meta Platforms

In related news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $532.21, for a total transaction of $481,650.05. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 41,437 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $22,053,185.77. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 5,057 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $526.76, for a total transaction of $2,663,825.32. Following the sale, the chief technology officer now owns 11,990 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,315,852.40. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $532.21, for a total transaction of $481,650.05. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 41,437 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $22,053,185.77. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 384,783 shares of company stock valued at $194,001,589 in the last quarter. 13.71% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently commented on META. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $575.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. JMP Securities reiterated a “market outperform” rating and issued a $525.00 target price on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Tuesday, July 30th. Oppenheimer lifted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $525.00 to $615.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Raymond James boosted their target price on Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $600.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, July 1st. Finally, BNP Paribas initiated coverage on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday, May 2nd. They set an “underperform” rating and a $360.00 price target for the company. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating, thirty-three have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $574.41.

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.