Bard Financial Services Inc. Reduces Position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Bard Financial Services Inc. cut its stake in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 26.4% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 21,075 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 7,555 shares during the quarter. Bard Financial Services Inc.’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $6,048,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in META. McLean Asset Management Corp grew its position 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 in the last quarter. Financial Avengers Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 10.4% during the first quarter. Financial Avengers Inc. now owns 457 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $97,000 after purchasing an additional 43 shares during the period. Guyasuta Investment Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.8% during the first quarter. Guyasuta Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 5,570 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $1,181,000 after purchasing an additional 45 shares during the period. Red Tortoise LLC raised its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 32.2% during the first quarter. Red Tortoise LLC now owns 189 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $40,000 after purchasing an additional 46 shares during the period. Finally, Riverview Trust Co grew its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.7% during the first quarter. Riverview Trust Co now owns 7,177 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $1,521,000 after purchasing an additional 47 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 62.87% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Oppenheimer lifted their price target on Meta Platforms from $350.00 to $385.00 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. Sanford C. Bernstein raised their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $350.00 to $375.00 in a report on Thursday, July 27th. Credit Suisse Group raised their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $361.00 to $407.00 in a report on Thursday, July 27th. Finally, Wolfe Research upped their target price on Meta Platforms from $300.00 to $330.00 in a report on Wednesday, June 14th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating, forty-four have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $319.79.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

Shares of META stock opened at $300.31 on Monday. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1 year low of $88.09 and a 1 year high of $326.20. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $302.23 and its 200-day moving average is $259.90. The firm has a market capitalization of $772.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.00, a PEG ratio of 1.00 and a beta of 1.23. The company has a current ratio of 2.32, a quick ratio of 2.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 670 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 12th. The stock was 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 directly owns 37,680 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,542,891.20. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 670 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $306.34, for a total transaction of $205,247.80. Following the sale, the insider now owns 37,680 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,542,891.20. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 8,032 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $306.19, for a total value of $2,459,318.08. Following the sale, the chief technology officer now directly owns 11,588 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,548,129.72. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 41,179 shares of company stock valued at $12,474,820. Company insiders own 13.75% of the company’s stock.

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.