Riverstone Advisors LLC Lowers Position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Riverstone Advisors LLC lessened its stake in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 3.9% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 982 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 40 shares during the period. Meta Platforms accounts for approximately 0.3% of Riverstone Advisors LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 26th biggest position. Riverstone Advisors LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $562,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. LS Investment Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 111.4% in the 3rd quarter. LS Investment Advisors LLC now owns 11,679 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $6,686,000 after purchasing an additional 6,155 shares during the period. Gradient Investments LLC boosted its stake in Meta Platforms by 8.9% during the second quarter. Gradient Investments LLC now owns 72,587 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $36,600,000 after buying an additional 5,953 shares during the period. Cutter & CO Brokerage Inc. raised its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.7% in the third quarter. Cutter & CO Brokerage Inc. now owns 9,735 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $5,573,000 after acquiring an additional 65 shares during the period. Stanley Laman Group Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 26.5% in the 2nd quarter. Stanley Laman Group Ltd. now owns 1,678 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $846,000 after acquiring an additional 352 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Janney Montgomery Scott LLC boosted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.4% during the 3rd quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 412,046 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $235,872,000 after purchasing an additional 5,594 shares during the period. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 901 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $567.70, for a total value of $511,497.70. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 30,581 shares in the company, valued at approximately $17,360,833.70. 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 this link. In related news, COO Javier Olivan sold 413 shares of the firm’s 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 transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 10,294 shares in the company, valued at $5,842,668.52. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 901 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $567.70, for a total value of $511,497.70. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 30,581 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $17,360,833.70. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 175,807 shares of company stock worth $93,851,617 in the last ninety days. 13.71% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

Shares of META stock opened at $580.00 on Thursday. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $564.48 and its two-hundred day moving average is $518.29. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12 month low of $313.66 and a 12 month high of $602.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a current ratio of 2.73 and a quick ratio of 2.73. The company has a market capitalization of $1.46 trillion, a PE ratio of 27.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 1.22.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The social networking company reported $6.03 EPS 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 company had revenue of $40.59 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $40.21 billion. Analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 22.53 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced 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. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.34%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 16th. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is currently 9.42%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on META shares. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $690.00 to $719.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Loop Capital raised their price target on Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $575.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 6th. Piper Sandler upped their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $575.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Needham & Company LLC reissued an “underperform” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Bank of America upped their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $630.00 to $660.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, thirty-five have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average 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.