Smith Moore & CO. Decreases Stock Position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Smith Moore & CO. cut its stake in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 2.7% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 7,958 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 224 shares during the quarter. Smith Moore & CO.’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $1,687,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Financial Avengers Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 10.4% in the 1st quarter. Financial Avengers Inc. now owns 457 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $97,000 after purchasing an additional 43 shares during the last quarter. Guyasuta Investment Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 0.8% in the first quarter. Guyasuta Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 5,570 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $1,181,000 after acquiring an additional 45 shares during the period. Riverview Trust Co raised its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.7% during the 1st quarter. Riverview Trust Co now owns 7,177 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $1,521,000 after buying an additional 47 shares during the last quarter. Francis Financial Inc. raised its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.5% during the 1st quarter. Francis Financial Inc. now owns 3,168 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $671,000 after buying an additional 47 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Stockman Wealth Management Inc. raised its stake in Meta Platforms by 1.5% in the 1st quarter. Stockman Wealth Management Inc. now owns 3,127 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $663,000 after purchasing an additional 47 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 62.87% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

Shares of META traded up $2.58 on Friday, hitting $301.25. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 7,158,620 shares, compared to its average volume of 26,512,457. The company has a market capitalization of $775.16 billion, a PE ratio of 34.81, a PEG ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 1.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a current ratio of 2.32 and a quick ratio of 2.32. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $88.09 and a fifty-two week high of $326.20. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $300.12 and a 200 day moving average price of $252.86.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 26th. The social networking company reported $3.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.87 by $0.36. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 21.72% and a net margin of 18.70%. The business had revenue of $32 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $30.91 billion. On average, research analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 13.17 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Meta Platforms

In other news, CFO Susan J. Li sold 10,643 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $306.19, for a total transaction of $3,258,780.17. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 91,617 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $28,052,209.23. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other Meta Platforms news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 670 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $297.45, for a total transaction of $199,291.50. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 38,350 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,407,207.50. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Susan J. Li sold 10,643 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $306.19, for a total value of $3,258,780.17. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 91,617 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $28,052,209.23. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 41,231 shares of company stock valued at $12,468,122 over the last 90 days. 13.75% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the company. TD Cowen upgraded Meta Platforms from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $220.00 to $345.00 in a report on Thursday, July 13th. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $350.00 to $435.00 in a report on Thursday, July 27th. Piper Sandler boosted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $310.00 to $365.00 in a research note on Thursday, July 27th. Sanford C. Bernstein upped their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $350.00 to $375.00 in a research note on Thursday, July 27th. Finally, Oppenheimer increased their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $350.00 to $385.00 in a research note on Thursday, July 27th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating, forty-four have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $319.79.

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.