Petra Financial Advisors Inc. Has $1.16 Million Holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Petra Financial Advisors Inc. lessened its position in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 5.0% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,306 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 121 shares during the quarter. Petra Financial Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $1,163,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Delos Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 527.3% during the 1st quarter. Delos Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 69 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $34,000 after buying an additional 58 shares during the period. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 122.2% during the 2nd quarter. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. now owns 80 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $40,000 after buying an additional 44 shares during the period. Richardson Financial Services Inc. raised its position in Meta Platforms by 95.6% in the 1st quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. now owns 88 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $41,000 after purchasing an additional 43 shares during the last quarter. Quest Partners LLC bought a new position in Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter valued at $32,000. Finally, Kathleen S. Wright Associates Inc. bought a new position in Meta Platforms in the 1st quarter valued at $44,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Stock Down 1.8 %

Shares of META stock traded down $9.91 on Friday, hitting $527.42. 14,715,158 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 16,365,660. 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 P/E ratio of 30.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 1.21. The business has a 50-day moving average of $500.48 and a 200 day moving average of $487.81. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $274.38 and a fifty-two week high of $542.81.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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. The company had revenue of $39.07 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $38.26 billion. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 34.16% and a net margin of 34.34%. Meta Platforms’s revenue for the quarter was up 22.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $3.23 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 20.5 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 26th. Investors 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 yield of 0.38%. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is presently 11.49%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

META has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $590.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $600.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Sanford C. Bernstein lifted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $565.00 to $575.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, July 22nd. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on Meta Platforms from $522.00 to $555.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, BNP Paribas initiated coverage on Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday, May 2nd. They set an “underperform” rating and a $360.00 target price for the company. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, thirty-three have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Meta Platforms currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $574.41.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 16,702 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $514.89, for a total transaction of $8,599,692.78. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 89,927 shares in the company, valued at $46,302,513.03. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other Meta Platforms news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $467.57, for a total value of $423,150.85. Following the sale, the insider now owns 43,275 shares in the company, valued at $20,234,091.75. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 16,702 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $514.89, for a total value of $8,599,692.78. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 89,927 shares in the company, valued at approximately $46,302,513.03. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 349,174 shares of company stock worth $175,146,777. Corporate insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

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.