Winch Advisory Services LLC Sells 58 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Winch Advisory Services LLC trimmed its stake in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 7,301 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 58 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms makes up 1.2% of Winch Advisory Services LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 17th largest position. Winch Advisory Services LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $4,179,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other large investors have also bought and sold shares of META. Delos Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 527.3% during the first 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 period. POM Investment Strategies LLC bought a new position in Meta Platforms during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $38,000. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 122.2% in the 2nd quarter. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. now owns 80 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $40,000 after buying an additional 44 shares during the period. Richardson Financial Services Inc. grew its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 95.6% in the 1st 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. purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the first quarter valued at approximately $44,000. 79.91% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

Shares of META opened at $563.69 on Thursday. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a one year low of $279.40 and a one year high of $602.95. The business has a fifty day moving average of $548.79 and a 200 day moving average of $509.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a current ratio of 2.83 and a quick ratio of 2.83. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.43 trillion, a P/E ratio of 32.38, a PEG ratio of 1.45 and a beta of 1.22.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last released 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 analyst estimates of $38.26 billion. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 34.34% and a return on equity of 34.16%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 22.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $3.23 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 21.37 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 26th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 16th were given 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 payout ratio is presently 11.49%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently weighed in on META. Tigress Financial lifted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $575.00 to $645.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 16th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $570.00 price target on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. TD Cowen lifted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $675.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Oppenheimer upped their target price on Meta Platforms from $525.00 to $615.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, Susquehanna raised their target price on Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $600.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, thirty-five have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $619.20.

Insider Transactions at Meta Platforms

In other news, COO Javier Olivan sold 412 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $521.48, for a total value of $214,849.76. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 5,147 shares in the company, valued at $2,684,057.56. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other Meta Platforms news, COO Javier Olivan sold 412 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $521.48, for a total value of $214,849.76. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 5,147 shares in the company, valued at $2,684,057.56. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 84 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 14th. The stock was 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 directly owns 518,424 shares in the company, valued at $311,054,400. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 249,912 shares of company stock worth $132,027,612 in the last 90 days. 13.71% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.