Mattson Financial Services LLC Lowers Stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Mattson Financial Services LLC cut its holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 0.7% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 7,420 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 53 shares during the period. Meta Platforms makes up 1.5% of Mattson Financial Services LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 10th largest position. Mattson Financial Services LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $4,248,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in META. Baird Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 24.2% during the 4th quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 835,972 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $295,901,000 after buying an additional 163,067 shares during the period. Gradient Investments LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 8.9% during the 2nd quarter. Gradient Investments LLC now owns 72,587 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $36,600,000 after buying an additional 5,953 shares during the period. Baillie Gifford & Co. lifted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 14.0% during the 1st quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. now owns 6,101,501 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $2,962,767,000 after buying an additional 748,076 shares during the period. ERn Financial LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 59.0% during the 1st quarter. ERn Financial LLC now owns 1,652 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $802,000 after buying an additional 613 shares during the period. Finally, Stanley Laman Group Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 26.5% during the 2nd quarter. Stanley Laman Group Ltd. now owns 1,678 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $846,000 after buying an additional 352 shares during the period. 79.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Meta Platforms Trading Up 1.4 %

META opened at $592.89 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $1.50 trillion, a P/E ratio of 34.05, a P/E/G ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 1.22. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12 month low of $279.40 and a 12 month high of $602.95. The company has a current ratio of 2.83, a quick ratio of 2.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $532.05 and a 200 day moving average of $503.76.

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, topping the consensus estimate of $4.70 by $0.46. The company had revenue of $39.07 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $38.26 billion. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 34.16% and a net margin of 34.34%. The firm’s revenue was up 22.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $3.23 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 21.36 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 26th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 16th were paid a $0.50 dividend. 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 11.49%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Meta Platforms news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 150 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 owns 124,387 shares of the company’s stock, 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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other Meta Platforms news, COO Javier Olivan sold 412 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $530.81, for a total value of $218,693.72. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 6,383 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,388,160.23. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 150 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $500.49, for a total transaction of $75,073.50. Following 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 position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 266,332 shares of company stock valued at $139,981,833 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently weighed in on META. Wolfe Research began coverage on Meta Platforms in a report on Tuesday, July 16th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $620.00 price target on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their target price on Meta Platforms from $525.00 to $585.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. JMP Securities raised their target price on Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $635.00 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, September 26th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on Meta Platforms from $522.00 to $555.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, Monness Crespi & Hardt raised their target price on Meta Platforms from $570.00 to $620.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, September 30th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating, thirty-five have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $601.08.

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.