Strategic Advisors LLC Cuts Stock Position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Strategic Advisors LLC cut its stake in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 12.0% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 14,766 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 2,017 shares during the period. Meta Platforms comprises about 1.6% of Strategic Advisors LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 14th largest position. Strategic Advisors LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $8,452,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Delos Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in Meta Platforms by 527.3% in the 1st quarter. Delos Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 69 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $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 second quarter valued at approximately $38,000. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 122.2% in the second quarter. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. now owns 80 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $40,000 after purchasing an additional 44 shares during the last quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. grew its position in Meta Platforms by 95.6% in the 1st quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. now owns 88 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $41,000 after purchasing an additional 43 shares during the period. Finally, Kathleen S. Wright Associates Inc. purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms during the 1st quarter valued at $44,000. 79.91% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Meta Platforms Trading Down 0.9 %

META stock traded down $5.42 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $585.09. 3,615,939 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 15,375,491. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $534.36 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $504.36. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.48 trillion, a PE ratio of 33.68, a PEG ratio of 1.39 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, Inc. has a one year low of $279.40 and a one year high of $602.95.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 31st. The social networking company reported $5.16 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.70 by $0.46. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 34.34% and a return on equity of 34.16%. The company had revenue of $39.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $38.26 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $3.23 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 22.1% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 21.36 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have weighed in on META shares. Raymond James increased their target price on Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $650.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday. TD Cowen lifted their target price on Meta Platforms from $530.00 to $600.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 10th. Truist Financial raised their price objective on Meta Platforms from $570.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday. Tigress Financial increased their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $575.00 to $645.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 16th. Finally, Evercore ISI lifted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $600.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, thirty-five have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Meta Platforms presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $608.58.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 492 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, October 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $600.75, for a total transaction of $295,569.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 518,508 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $311,493,681. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 492 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $600.75, for a total value of $295,569.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 518,508 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $311,493,681. This 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 through the SEC website. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $501.42, for a total value of $453,785.10. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 36,035 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $18,068,669.70. This trade 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 266,412 shares of company stock worth $140,058,708 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

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.