Fort L.P. Reduces Stock Position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Fort L.P. lowered its position in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 10.6% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,088 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 129 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms accounts for approximately 1.6% of Fort L.P.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 4th largest position. Fort L.P.’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $623,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 48.8% during the 1st quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 49,191 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $23,886,000 after acquiring an additional 16,138 shares during the last quarter. Graypoint LLC boosted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 5.8% in the 1st quarter. Graypoint LLC now owns 18,773 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $9,116,000 after purchasing an additional 1,033 shares during the period. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. increased its stake in Meta Platforms by 27.5% in the 1st quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 575,938 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $279,663,000 after purchasing an additional 124,357 shares in the last quarter. Baron Silver Stevens Financial Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Meta Platforms by 8.6% during the 1st quarter. Baron Silver Stevens Financial Advisors LLC now owns 2,941 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $1,428,000 after buying an additional 232 shares during the period. Finally, Magnolia Capital Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Meta Platforms by 32.0% during the first quarter. Magnolia Capital Advisors LLC now owns 5,781 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $2,781,000 after buying an additional 1,401 shares in the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Meta Platforms Stock Down 0.1 %

META opened at $572.05 on Thursday. The business has a 50 day moving average of $557.85 and a 200-day moving average of $514.31. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.45 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.95, a P/E/G ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 1.22. The company has a current ratio of 2.73, a quick ratio of 2.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1-year low of $313.66 and a 1-year high of $602.95.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The social networking company reported $6.03 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.19 by $0.84. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 35.55% and a return on equity of 35.60%. The firm had revenue of $40.59 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $40.21 billion. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 22.44 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 26th. Investors of record on Monday, September 16th were paid 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 0.35%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is 9.42%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Meta Platforms

In other news, COO Javier Olivan sold 413 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $567.58, for a total transaction of $234,410.54. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 10,294 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,842,668.52. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Meta Platforms news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $507.63, for a total transaction of $459,405.15. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 37,817 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $19,197,043.71. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 413 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $567.58, for a total value of $234,410.54. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 10,294 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,842,668.52. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 243,919 shares of company stock valued at $129,296,067 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $570.00 target price on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $690.00 to $719.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Truist Financial raised their target price on Meta Platforms from $570.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Scotiabank dropped their price target on Meta Platforms from $585.00 to $583.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Raymond James raised their price objective on Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, thirty-five have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $634.10.

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.