Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc. Reduces Position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc. trimmed its holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 7.8% during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 4,520 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 384 shares during the quarter. Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $2,587,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Gradient Investments LLC grew its holdings in Meta Platforms by 8.9% in the 2nd quarter. Gradient Investments LLC now owns 72,587 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $36,600,000 after buying an additional 5,953 shares in the last quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. boosted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 14.0% during the 1st quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. now owns 6,101,501 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $2,962,767,000 after acquiring an additional 748,076 shares during the last quarter. ERn Financial LLC boosted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 59.0% during the 1st quarter. ERn Financial LLC now owns 1,652 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $802,000 after acquiring an additional 613 shares during the last quarter. Stanley Laman Group Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 26.5% in the second quarter. Stanley Laman Group Ltd. now owns 1,678 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $846,000 after purchasing an additional 352 shares during the period. Finally, Lincoln National Corp increased its position in Meta Platforms by 7.8% during the first quarter. Lincoln National Corp now owns 34,790 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $16,894,000 after purchasing an additional 2,504 shares during the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently weighed in on META shares. Robert W. Baird increased their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $530.00 to $605.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 26th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Meta Platforms from $647.00 to $652.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Rosenblatt Securities lifted their target price on Meta Platforms from $643.00 to $811.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 26th. TD Cowen upped their price target on Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $675.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Meta Platforms from $610.00 to $640.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 26th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, thirty-five have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Meta Platforms currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $617.37.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 150 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $500.49, for a total transaction of $75,073.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 124,387 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $62,254,449.63. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. In related news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 150 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $500.49, for a total value of $75,073.50. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 124,387 shares in the company, valued at $62,254,449.63. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $589.97, for a total value of $533,922.85. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 33,292 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $19,641,281.24. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 250,816 shares of company stock worth $132,421,828. 13.71% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:META opened at $576.47 on Monday. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a one year low of $279.40 and a one year high of $602.95. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.46 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.11, a PEG ratio of 1.45 and a beta of 1.22. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $546.53 and a 200-day simple moving average of $508.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a quick ratio of 2.83 and a current ratio of 2.83.

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. The company 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 firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 22.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $3.23 EPS. On average, analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 21.37 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 26th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 16th were paid a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 16th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.35%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is currently 11.49%.

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.