Petra Financial Advisors Inc. Sells 1,701 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Petra Financial Advisors Inc. cut its position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 73.8% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 605 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 1,701 shares during the quarter. Petra Financial Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $346,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in META. Central Valley Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.3% in the third quarter. Central Valley Advisors LLC now owns 5,714 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $3,271,000 after buying an additional 18 shares during the period. Cherrydale Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 0.5% in the third quarter. Cherrydale Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,841 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $2,199,000 after acquiring an additional 18 shares during the last quarter. Alliance Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in Meta Platforms by 0.7% during the 3rd quarter. Alliance Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,787 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $1,595,000 after purchasing an additional 18 shares during the period. Kozak & Associates Inc. raised its holdings in Meta Platforms by 1.0% during the 3rd quarter. Kozak & Associates Inc. now owns 1,906 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $1,099,000 after purchasing an additional 18 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC lifted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 3,560 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $2,038,000 after purchasing an additional 18 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Meta Platforms

In other Meta Platforms news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $532.21, for a total value of $481,650.05. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 41,437 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $22,053,185.77. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In related news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $532.21, for a total value of $481,650.05. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 41,437 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $22,053,185.77. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Peggy Alford sold 1,052 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $479.00, for a total transaction of $503,908.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 6,168 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,954,472. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 251,092 shares of company stock worth $132,865,496. Insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Stock Down 0.1 %

META stock opened at $567.16 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $1.43 trillion, a P/E ratio of 26.72, a P/E/G ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 1.22. The company has a current ratio of 2.73, a quick ratio of 2.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $555.99 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $513.25. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1-year low of $308.33 and a 1-year high of $602.95.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The social networking company reported $6.03 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.19 by $0.84. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 35.55% and a return on equity of 35.60%. The company had revenue of $40.59 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $40.21 billion. Analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 21.84 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 26th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 16th were paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 16th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.35%. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is currently 9.42%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently weighed in on META. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $640.00 to $660.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday. Bank of America lifted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $630.00 to $660.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $555.00 to $636.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, October 14th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $570.00 target price on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, Loop Capital boosted their price target on Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $575.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 6th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, thirty-five have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $634.10.

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.