CCM Investment Advisers LLC Cuts Position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

CCM Investment Advisers LLC decreased its stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 1.6% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 45,019 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 717 shares during the period. Meta Platforms accounts for 2.7% of CCM Investment Advisers LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 7th largest position. CCM Investment Advisers LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $22,699,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Quest Partners LLC acquired a new position in Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter worth $32,000. Clear Investment Research LLC boosted its position in Meta Platforms by 411.1% during the 4th quarter. Clear Investment Research LLC now owns 92 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 74 shares during the period. Delos Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in 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 acquiring an additional 58 shares during the period. Gilfoyle & Co LLC acquired a new position in Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter worth $39,000. Finally, Richardson Financial Services Inc. boosted its position in Meta Platforms by 95.6% during the 1st quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. now owns 88 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $41,000 after acquiring an additional 43 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the company. TD Cowen upped their price objective on Meta Platforms from $530.00 to $600.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 10th. UBS Group upped their price objective on Meta Platforms from $630.00 to $635.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Meta Platforms from $625.00 to $647.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Wolfe Research assumed coverage on Meta Platforms in a report on Tuesday, July 16th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $620.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $570.00 price objective on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, thirty-three have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $572.51.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

NASDAQ:META traded up $8.14 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $517.77. 13,684,313 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 16,487,600. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $496.49 and a two-hundred day moving average of $482.54. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12 month low of $274.38 and a 12 month high of $542.81. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.31 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 1.21. The company has a current ratio of 2.83, a quick ratio of 2.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The social networking company reported $5.16 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.70 by $0.46. The firm 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%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 22.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $3.23 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 20.5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 14th were issued a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 14th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.39%. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is presently 11.49%.

Insider Transactions at Meta Platforms

In other news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 901 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $451.15, for a total value of $406,486.15. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 33,324 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $15,034,122.60. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In related news, CFO Susan J. Li sold 8,951 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $471.85, for a total transaction of $4,223,529.35. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 74,580 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $35,190,573. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 901 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $451.15, for a total value of $406,486.15. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 33,324 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $15,034,122.60. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 319,158 shares of company stock valued at $158,629,849. 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.