Marotta Asset Management Sells 30 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Marotta Asset Management cut its holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 0.7% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 4,369 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 30 shares during the period. Marotta Asset Management’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $2,501,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Delos Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position 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 valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 58 shares during the last quarter. POM Investment Strategies LLC bought a new position in Meta Platforms during the 2nd quarter valued at about $38,000. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 44 shares during the last quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. grew its stake in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 43 shares during the period. 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 currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $533.95, for a total value of $483,224.75. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 36,940 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,724,113. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Meta Platforms news, COO Javier Olivan sold 412 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $463.00, for a total value of $190,756.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 5,559 shares in the company, valued at $2,573,817. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $533.95, for a total value of $483,224.75. Following the sale, the insider now owns 36,940 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $19,724,113. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 300,228 shares of company stock valued at $158,005,260 over the last three months. 13.71% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Sanford C. Bernstein raised their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $565.00 to $575.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, July 22nd. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $565.00 to $600.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Needham & Company LLC reissued an “underperform” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Wednesday, September 4th. TD Cowen boosted their price target on Meta Platforms from $530.00 to $600.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 10th. Finally, KeyCorp upped their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $540.00 to $560.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, thirty-five have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $598.08.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

Meta Platforms stock opened at $582.77 on Friday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $524.47 and its 200-day moving average price is $501.92. The company has a quick ratio of 2.83, a current ratio of 2.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. The company has a market cap of $1.48 trillion, a PE ratio of 33.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 1.21. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a twelve month low of $279.40 and a twelve month high of $583.36.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 31st. The social networking company reported $5.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.70 by $0.46. The business had revenue of $39.07 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $38.26 billion. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 34.16% and a net margin of 34.34%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 22.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $3.23 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 21.36 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. Investors 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.34%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is presently 11.49%.

About Meta Platforms

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.