Maple Capital Management Inc. Trims Stock Position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Maple Capital Management Inc. lessened its stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 0.7% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 98,668 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 719 shares during the period. Meta Platforms comprises about 4.3% of Maple Capital Management Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 6th biggest position. Maple Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $56,482,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in META. Capital Research Global Investors boosted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 14.5% during the 1st quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 34,597,001 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $16,799,612,000 after purchasing an additional 4,379,826 shares in the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC boosted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 24.7% during the 1st quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 13,867,398 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $6,733,731,000 after purchasing an additional 2,748,620 shares in the last quarter. Sustainable Growth Advisers LP acquired a new position in Meta Platforms during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $595,152,000. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in Meta Platforms by 0.4% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 187,180,393 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $90,891,055,000 after buying an additional 831,047 shares during the period. Finally, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board raised its stake in Meta Platforms by 30.0% during the 1st quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 3,411,009 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $1,656,318,000 after buying an additional 788,131 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Meta Platforms

In other news, COO Javier Olivan sold 413 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, October 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $580.65, for a total value of $239,808.45. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 11,120 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,456,828. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $589.97, for a total value of $533,922.85. Following the sale, the insider now owns 33,292 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,641,281.24. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 413 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, October 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $580.65, for a total value of $239,808.45. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 11,120 shares in the company, valued at $6,456,828. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 249,912 shares of company stock valued at $132,027,612 over the last three months. Company insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ META opened at $563.69 on Thursday. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1-year low of $279.40 and a 1-year high of $602.95. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $548.79 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $509.61. 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 firm has a market cap of $1.43 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.45 and a beta of 1.22.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The social networking company reported $5.16 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.70 by $0.46. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 34.16% and a net margin of 34.34%. The firm had revenue of $39.07 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $38.26 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $3.23 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 22.1% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 21.37 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 26th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 16th were issued a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.35%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 16th. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is currently 11.49%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

META has been the topic of a number of research reports. KeyCorp upped their price target on Meta Platforms from $560.00 to $655.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Truist Financial upped their price target on Meta Platforms from $570.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Citigroup upped their price target on Meta Platforms from $580.00 to $645.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, September 23rd. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $675.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, TD Cowen increased their price objective on Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $675.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, thirty-five have assigned a buy rating and two have given 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 an average target price of $619.20.

Meta Platforms Company 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.