Net Worth Advisory Group Decreases Stock Position in Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

Net Worth Advisory Group cut its holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 21.1% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 4,166 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 1,114 shares during the period. Meta Platforms makes up 0.9% of Net Worth Advisory Group’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 19th largest position. Net Worth Advisory Group’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $3,059,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Bare Financial Services Inc bought a new stake in Meta Platforms in the 2nd quarter worth about $30,000. Evergreen Private Wealth LLC lifted its stake in Meta Platforms by 237.5% during the 2nd quarter. Evergreen Private Wealth LLC now owns 54 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $40,000 after acquiring an additional 38 shares during the period. Briaud Financial Planning Inc purchased a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the 2nd quarter valued at about $42,000. Knuff & Co LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the 2nd quarter valued at about $44,000. Finally, WFA Asset Management Corp grew its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 42.6% in the second quarter. WFA Asset Management Corp now owns 67 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $49,000 after acquiring an additional 20 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Robert M. Kimmitt sold 580 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $646.00, for a total transaction of $374,680.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 6,167 shares in the company, valued at $3,983,882. This trade represents a 8.60% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 519 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $659.38, for a total transaction of $342,218.22. Following the transaction, the insider owned 29,177 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,238,730.26. This trade represents a 1.75% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 42,074 shares of company stock worth $26,359,548. Company insiders own 13.61% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

META has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Raymond James Financial restated a “strong-buy” rating and set a $825.00 price objective (down previously from $900.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. BNP Paribas initiated coverage on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Monday, November 24th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $800.00 target price for the company. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on Meta Platforms from $820.00 to $750.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, December 11th. Piper Sandler dropped their price target on Meta Platforms from $880.00 to $840.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus cut their price objective on Meta Platforms from $900.00 to $875.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-nine have issued a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $820.22.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

Shares of Meta Platforms stock opened at $663.29 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $654.81 and its 200 day moving average is $706.27. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a one year low of $479.80 and a one year high of $796.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a quick ratio of 1.98 and a current ratio of 1.98. The stock has a market cap of $1.67 trillion, a P/E ratio of 29.30, a P/E/G ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 1.28.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The social networking company reported $7.25 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.74 by $0.51. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 39.35% and a net margin of 30.89%.The business had revenue of $51.24 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $49.34 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $6.03 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 26.2% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 23rd. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 15th were paid a dividend of $0.525 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 15th. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.3%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 9.28%.

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.