World Equity Group Inc. Has $3.37 Million Position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

World Equity Group Inc. lessened its position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 28.7% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 5,890 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 2,373 shares during the period. Meta Platforms accounts for about 1.2% of World Equity Group Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 14th biggest holding. World Equity Group Inc.’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $3,371,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Signify Wealth increased its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 34.3% in the third quarter. Signify Wealth now owns 983 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $563,000 after buying an additional 251 shares during the period. QRG Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 4.5% in the third quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 417,016 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $238,716,000 after buying an additional 18,131 shares during the period. National Pension Service increased its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 14.6% in the third quarter. National Pension Service now owns 4,318,046 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $2,471,822,000 after buying an additional 550,852 shares during the period. Silicon Valley Capital Partners increased its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 4.0% in the third quarter. Silicon Valley Capital Partners now owns 21,707 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $12,426,000 after buying an additional 843 shares during the period. Finally, Cohen Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 10.5% in the third quarter. Cohen Capital Management Inc. now owns 8,215 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $4,703,000 after buying an additional 780 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on META shares. TD Cowen increased their price target on Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $675.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Hsbc Global Res raised Meta Platforms to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Sanford C. Bernstein increased their price target on Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $675.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed an “underperform” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $670.00 target price on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, thirty-five have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Meta Platforms presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $634.10.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 16,702 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction on Monday, August 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $514.89, for a total value of $8,599,692.78. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 89,927 shares in the company, valued at approximately $46,302,513.03. 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 the SEC website. In other news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 16,702 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction on Monday, August 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $514.89, for a total value of $8,599,692.78. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 89,927 shares in the company, valued at approximately $46,302,513.03. 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 the SEC website. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 413 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction on Friday, August 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $536.92, for a total value of $221,747.96. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 14,424 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,744,534.08. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 228,118 shares of company stock worth $121,237,935. 13.71% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

NASDAQ:META opened at $591.70 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a current ratio of 2.73 and a quick ratio of 2.73. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $558.95 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $514.71. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1 year low of $313.66 and a 1 year high of $602.95. The company has a market capitalization of $1.50 trillion, a P/E ratio of 27.87, a P/E/G ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.22.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The social networking company reported $6.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.19 by $0.84. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 35.60% and a net margin of 35.55%. The business had revenue of $40.59 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $40.21 billion. On average, analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 22.53 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.34%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 16th. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is currently 9.42%.

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.