Gradient Investments LLC Sells 18,100 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Gradient Investments LLC reduced its holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 21.4% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 66,484 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 18,100 shares during the quarter. Gradient Investments LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $19,080,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Credit Suisse AG purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter worth $481,262,000. Catalyst Financial Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 18.7% in the 1st quarter. Catalyst Financial Partners LLC now owns 4,287 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $909,000 after buying an additional 675 shares during the period. Hall Capital Management Co. Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the 1st quarter worth about $205,000. Aspire Private Capital LLC grew its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 139.0% in the 1st quarter. Aspire Private Capital LLC now owns 1,293 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $274,000 after buying an additional 752 shares during the period. Finally, Audent Global Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter worth about $392,000. 62.87% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. KeyCorp upped their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $280.00 to $335.00 in a research report on Thursday, July 6th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $360.00 to $400.00 in a research report on Thursday, July 27th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $280.00 to $336.00 in a research note on Friday, July 21st. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $335.00 to $400.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 27th. Finally, 92 Resources reiterated a “maintains” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Monday, June 26th. Two research 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 given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Meta Platforms has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $319.79.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 722 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $317.67, for a total transaction of $229,357.74. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 30,868 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,805,837.56. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 722 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $317.67, for a total transaction of $229,357.74. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 30,868 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,805,837.56. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 4,277 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $293.00, for a total value of $1,253,161.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 82,858 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $24,277,394. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 41,179 shares of company stock worth $12,474,820. 13.75% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Meta Platforms Trading Down 3.7 %

Shares of META opened at $300.31 on Monday. 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 company has a 50 day simple moving average of $302.23 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $259.90. The firm has a market cap of $772.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.00 and a beta of 1.23.

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

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.