Occidental Asset Management LLC Cuts Stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Occidental Asset Management LLC lowered its position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 2.0% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 23,700 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 476 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms makes up approximately 1.5% of Occidental Asset Management LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 14th biggest position. Occidental Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $6,801,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of META. McLean Asset Management Corp grew its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 3.2% in the 2nd quarter. McLean Asset Management Corp now owns 1,127 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $323,000 after acquiring an additional 35 shares during the period. Norway Savings Bank grew its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.7% in the 2nd quarter. Norway Savings Bank now owns 2,331 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $669,000 after acquiring an additional 40 shares during the period. Financial Avengers Inc. grew 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 worth $97,000 after acquiring an additional 43 shares during the period. Guyasuta Investment Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.8% in the 1st quarter. Guyasuta Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 5,570 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $1,181,000 after acquiring an additional 45 shares during the period. Finally, Red Tortoise LLC grew its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 32.2% in the 1st quarter. Red Tortoise LLC now owns 189 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $40,000 after acquiring an additional 46 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 62.87% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Meta Platforms

In other Meta Platforms news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 670 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $306.34, for a total transaction of $205,247.80. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 37,680 shares in the company, valued at $11,542,891.20. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 670 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $306.34, for a total transaction of $205,247.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 37,680 shares in the company, valued at $11,542,891.20. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Susan J. Li sold 10,643 shares of the company’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 transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 91,617 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $28,052,209.23. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 40,457 shares of company stock worth $12,273,577 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 14.03% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Stock Up 0.7 %

META stock opened at $302.55 on Tuesday. 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 1-year low of $88.09 and a 1-year high of $326.20. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $302.40 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $260.80. The firm has a market cap of $778.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.26, a PEG ratio of 0.99 and a beta of 1.23.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 26th. The social networking company reported $3.23 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.87 by $0.36. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 18.70% and a return on equity of 21.72%. The firm had revenue of $32 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $30.91 billion. Research analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 13.17 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have commented on META. HSBC upgraded Meta Platforms from a “reduce” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $285.00 target price on the stock in a report on Thursday, July 27th. China Renaissance upgraded Meta Platforms from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $380.00 target price on the stock in a report on Friday, July 28th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Meta Platforms from $350.00 to $375.00 in a report on Thursday, July 27th. CICC Research began coverage on Meta Platforms in a report on Monday, August 28th. They set an “outperform” rating on the stock. Finally, Piper Sandler increased their target price on Meta Platforms from $310.00 to $365.00 in a report on Thursday, July 27th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating, forty-four have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $319.79.

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.