Schaper Benz & Wise Investment Counsel Inc. WI Lowers Stock Position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Schaper Benz & Wise Investment Counsel Inc. WI cut its holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 1.3% during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 12,533 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 160 shares during the quarter. Schaper Benz & Wise Investment Counsel Inc. WI’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $7,174,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Delos Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 527.3% in the 1st quarter. Delos Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 69 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 58 shares during the last quarter. POM Investment Strategies LLC bought a new stake in Meta Platforms during the 2nd quarter valued at about $38,000. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. increased its stake in Meta Platforms by 122.2% during the 2nd quarter. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. now owns 80 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $40,000 after purchasing an additional 44 shares in the last quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. raised its holdings in Meta Platforms by 95.6% in the first quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. now owns 88 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $41,000 after buying an additional 43 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Kathleen S. Wright Associates Inc. bought a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the first quarter worth approximately $44,000. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

META has been the subject of several analyst reports. Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $600.00 price target on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday, September 26th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on Meta Platforms from $475.00 to $525.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Guggenheim increased their price objective on Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $665.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, October 7th. Mizuho boosted their target price on Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, Oppenheimer raised their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $525.00 to $615.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, thirty-five have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $617.37.

Meta Platforms Stock Down 0.2 %

NASDAQ META opened at $575.16 on Tuesday. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12 month low of $279.40 and a 12 month high of $602.95. The company has a current ratio of 2.83, a quick ratio of 2.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. The stock has a market cap of $1.46 trillion, a PE ratio of 33.04, a P/E/G ratio of 1.45 and a beta of 1.22. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $547.72 and its 200 day moving average is $509.22.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The social networking company reported $5.16 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.70 by $0.46. The firm had revenue of $39.07 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $38.26 billion. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 34.34% and a return on equity of 34.16%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 22.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $3.23 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 21.37 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Meta Platforms news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $589.97, for a total transaction of $533,922.85. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 33,292 shares in the company, valued at $19,641,281.24. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In related news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 84 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $600.00, for a total value of $50,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 518,424 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $311,054,400. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the insider now directly owns 33,292 shares in the company, valued at $19,641,281.24. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 249,911 shares of company stock worth $131,978,559. Corporate insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms 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.