Mengis Capital Management Inc. Lowers Stock Position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Mengis Capital Management Inc. cut its holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 1.9% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 2,118 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 40 shares during the quarter. Mengis Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $1,212,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. LS Investment Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 111.4% during the third quarter. LS Investment Advisors LLC now owns 11,679 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $6,686,000 after purchasing an additional 6,155 shares in the last quarter. Gradient Investments LLC grew its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 8.9% in the 2nd quarter. Gradient Investments LLC now owns 72,587 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $36,600,000 after buying an additional 5,953 shares during the last quarter. Cutter & CO Brokerage Inc. increased its position in Meta Platforms by 0.7% during the 3rd quarter. Cutter & CO Brokerage Inc. now owns 9,735 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $5,573,000 after buying an additional 65 shares in the last quarter. Stanley Laman Group Ltd. raised its stake in Meta Platforms by 26.5% during the second 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 last quarter. Finally, Janney Montgomery Scott LLC raised its stake in Meta Platforms by 1.4% during the third quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 412,046 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $235,872,000 after buying an additional 5,594 shares during the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on META shares. Guggenheim raised their price target on Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $665.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, October 7th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $570.00 target price on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Pivotal Research increased their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $780.00 to $800.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Needham & Company LLC restated an “underperform” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on Meta Platforms from $590.00 to $663.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, October 14th. Two research 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 given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $634.10.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

NASDAQ:META opened at $554.08 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $1.40 trillion, a PE ratio of 26.10, a P/E/G ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.22. The company has a quick ratio of 2.73, a current ratio of 2.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $568.11 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $520.60. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 52 week low of $313.66 and a 52 week high of $602.95.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The social networking company reported $6.03 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 company had revenue of $40.59 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $40.21 billion. As a group, analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 22.53 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced 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 was Monday, September 16th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.36%. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is 9.42%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Meta Platforms

In other news, insider Christopher K. Cox sold 20,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $557.52, for a total transaction of $11,150,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 338,662 shares in the company, valued at $188,810,838.24. This trade represents a 5.58 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 901 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $567.70, for a total value of $511,497.70. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 30,581 shares in the company, valued at $17,360,833.70. This represents a 2.86 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 158,200 shares of company stock worth $84,533,106. 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.