Aspiriant LLC Sells 1,523 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Aspiriant LLC decreased its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 11.4% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 11,832 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 1,523 shares during the period. Aspiriant LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $5,966,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Krilogy Financial LLC grew its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 3.7% in the 4th quarter. Krilogy Financial LLC now owns 18,102 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $6,407,000 after buying an additional 653 shares during the period. Eagle Strategies LLC boosted its stake in Meta Platforms by 5.3% in the 4th quarter. Eagle Strategies LLC now owns 1,128 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $399,000 after purchasing an additional 57 shares during the period. Gruss & Co. LLC boosted its stake in Meta Platforms by 50.0% in the 4th quarter. Gruss & Co. LLC now owns 1,500 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $531,000 after purchasing an additional 500 shares during the period. Custom Index Systems LLC acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter worth about $1,239,000. Finally, Harbor Investment Advisory LLC boosted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 5.1% during the 4th quarter. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC now owns 14,160 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $5,012,000 after buying an additional 684 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Stock Down 0.4 %

Shares of NASDAQ META traded down $1.82 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $515.95. 9,758,071 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 16,443,930. The stock has a market cap of $1.31 trillion, a P/E ratio of 29.64, a PEG ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 1.21. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $497.26 and a 200 day simple moving average of $484.74. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1-year low of $274.38 and a 1-year high of $542.81. 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 (NASDAQ:META) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The social networking company reported $5.16 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.70 by $0.46. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 34.34% and a return on equity of 34.16%. The business 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 company earned $3.23 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 22.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 20.5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced 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 0.39%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 14th. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is 11.49%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Meta Platforms

In other news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $533.95, for a total value of $483,224.75. Following the sale, the insider now owns 36,940 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $19,724,113. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $533.95, for a total value of $483,224.75. Following the sale, the insider now owns 36,940 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $19,724,113. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Nicholas Clegg sold 1,135 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $471.85, for a total transaction of $535,549.75. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 8,753 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,130,103.05. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 319,158 shares of company stock worth $158,629,849 over the last three months. 13.71% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Piper Sandler increased their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $545.00 to $575.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Susquehanna increased their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $600.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. TD Cowen raised their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $530.00 to $600.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 10th. TD Securities raised their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $530.00 to $600.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 10th. Finally, Citigroup raised their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $580.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, thirty-three have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $572.51.

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.