Connective Portfolio Management LLC Lowers Position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Connective Portfolio Management LLC decreased its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 84.4% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 1,000 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 5,400 shares during the period. Connective Portfolio Management LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $572,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of the business. Visionary Wealth Advisors grew its stake in Meta Platforms by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Visionary Wealth Advisors now owns 9,846 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $3,485,000 after purchasing an additional 84 shares during the last quarter. Icon Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,895,000. Hancock Whitney Corp raised its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 12.6% during the 4th quarter. Hancock Whitney Corp now owns 94,051 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $33,290,000 after acquiring an additional 10,495 shares in the last quarter. Northwest Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 2.5% during the 4th quarter. Northwest Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,160 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $411,000 after acquiring an additional 28 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vista Investment Management purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $288,000. Institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Meta Platforms news, CFO Susan J. Li sold 33,018 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $517.94, for a total transaction of $17,101,342.92. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Meta Platforms news, COO Javier Olivan sold 412 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $530.81, for a total transaction of $218,693.72. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 6,383 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,388,160.23. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CFO Susan J. Li sold 33,018 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $517.94, for a total value of $17,101,342.92. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 266,332 shares of company stock worth $139,981,833. Insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have issued reports on META shares. Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $530.00 to $605.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, September 26th. Monness Crespi & Hardt increased their price target on Meta Platforms from $570.00 to $620.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, September 30th. Tigress Financial raised their price target on Meta Platforms from $575.00 to $645.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 16th. Roth Mkm boosted their price target on Meta Platforms from $510.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $600.00 price objective on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday, September 26th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating, thirty-five have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $601.08.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

Shares of META stock traded down $9.36 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $583.53. 1,927,215 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 15,396,810. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $279.40 and a fifty-two week high of $602.95. The firm has a market cap of $1.48 trillion, a P/E ratio of 34.05, a P/E/G ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 1.22. The company has a quick ratio of 2.83, a current ratio of 2.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $532.05 and a two-hundred day moving average of $503.76.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 31st. The social networking company reported $5.16 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.70 by $0.46. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 34.34% and a return on equity of 34.16%. The company had revenue of $39.07 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $38.26 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $3.23 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 22.1% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 21.36 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 26th. Investors of record on Monday, September 16th were paid a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.34%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 16th. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is presently 11.49%.

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.