Stephens Consulting LLC Decreases Position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Stephens Consulting LLC reduced its stake in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 8.8% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 301 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 29 shares during the period. Stephens Consulting LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $172,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of META. Central Valley Advisors LLC increased its position in Meta Platforms by 0.3% during the third quarter. Central Valley Advisors LLC now owns 5,714 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $3,271,000 after acquiring an additional 18 shares during the period. Cherrydale Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. Cherrydale Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,841 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $2,199,000 after purchasing an additional 18 shares during the period. Alliance Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.7% during the third quarter. Alliance Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,787 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $1,595,000 after buying an additional 18 shares during the last quarter. Kozak & Associates Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.0% in the third quarter. Kozak & Associates Inc. now owns 1,906 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $1,099,000 after buying an additional 18 shares during the period. Finally, Firethorn Wealth Partners LLC grew its position in Meta Platforms by 1.8% during the third quarter. Firethorn Wealth Partners LLC now owns 1,075 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $615,000 after buying an additional 19 shares in the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Meta Platforms

In other news, CFO Susan J. Li sold 33,018 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $517.94, for a total transaction of $17,101,342.92. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, CFO Susan J. Li sold 33,018 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $517.94, for a total transaction of $17,101,342.92. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 518,508 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $311,493,681. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 249,911 shares of company stock worth $131,978,559. 13.71% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:META opened at $575.16 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.46 trillion, a P/E ratio of 33.04, a P/E/G ratio of 1.45 and a beta of 1.22. The company has a current ratio of 2.83, a quick ratio of 2.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1-year low of $279.40 and a 1-year high of $602.95. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $547.72 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $509.22.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 31st. The social networking company reported $5.16 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.70 by $0.46. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 34.34% and a return on equity of 34.16%. The business 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 business posted $3.23 earnings per share. Meta Platforms’s revenue was up 22.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 21.37 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.35%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 11.49%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have commented on META. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Meta Platforms from $610.00 to $640.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 26th. UBS Group raised their target price on Meta Platforms from $635.00 to $690.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, October 7th. Raymond James boosted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $650.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Pivotal Research started coverage on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. They issued a “buy” rating and a $780.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $600.00 target price on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday, September 26th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, thirty-five have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Meta Platforms has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $617.37.

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.