Kercheville Advisors LLC Has $8.58 Million Stock Position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Kercheville Advisors LLC lessened its stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 4.2% in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 14,983 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 665 shares during the period. Meta Platforms accounts for 3.6% of Kercheville Advisors LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 9th biggest holding. Kercheville Advisors LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $8,577,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Meta Platforms by 0.4% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 187,180,393 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $90,891,055,000 after buying an additional 831,047 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors lifted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 0.6% in the 1st quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 38,299,316 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $18,597,382,000 after acquiring an additional 244,803 shares during the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors lifted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 14.5% in the 1st quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 34,597,001 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $16,799,612,000 after acquiring an additional 4,379,826 shares during the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC lifted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 24.7% in the 1st quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 13,867,398 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $6,733,731,000 after acquiring an additional 2,748,620 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GQG Partners LLC lifted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 3.1% in the 1st quarter. GQG Partners LLC now owns 11,497,335 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $5,582,876,000 after acquiring an additional 342,742 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Meta Platforms

In other Meta Platforms news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 150 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $500.49, for a total transaction of $75,073.50. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 124,387 shares in the company, valued at $62,254,449.63. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 901 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $451.15, for a total value of $406,486.15. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 33,324 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $15,034,122.60. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 150 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $500.49, for a total value of $75,073.50. Following the completion of the sale, 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 250,818 shares of company stock worth $132,569,993 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Trading Down 0.2 %

NASDAQ:META opened at $591.80 on Thursday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $554.49 and its 200 day moving average price is $512.18. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 52 week low of $296.86 and a 52 week high of $602.95. The company has a market capitalization of $1.50 trillion, a P/E ratio of 33.99, a P/E/G ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.22. 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 announced 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. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 34.16% and a net margin of 34.34%. The company had revenue of $39.07 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $38.26 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $3.23 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 22.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 21.44 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $555.00 to $636.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, October 14th. Scotiabank assumed coverage on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Friday, October 11th. They issued a “sector perform” rating and a $585.00 price target for the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $525.00 to $585.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Susquehanna upped their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $600.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, TD Securities upped their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $530.00 to $600.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 10th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, thirty-five have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $621.63.

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.