Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) Position Cut by Running Point Capital Advisors LLC

Running Point Capital Advisors LLC lessened its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 3.6% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 741 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 28 shares during the period. Running Point Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $424,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of META. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its stake in Meta Platforms by 48.8% during the 1st quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 49,191 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $23,886,000 after purchasing an additional 16,138 shares in the last quarter. Cypress Asset Management Inc. TX grew its holdings in Meta Platforms by 541.8% during the first quarter. Cypress Asset Management Inc. TX now owns 3,819 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $1,862,000 after acquiring an additional 3,224 shares during the period. Ascent Group LLC raised its position in Meta Platforms by 0.6% in the first quarter. Ascent Group LLC now owns 27,652 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $13,427,000 after acquiring an additional 178 shares in the last quarter. Waterford Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 24.8% in the 1st quarter. Waterford Advisors LLC now owns 956 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $464,000 after acquiring an additional 190 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ashford Capital Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the 1st quarter valued at about $3,916,000. Institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently weighed in on META shares. Truist Financial raised their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $570.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Rosenblatt Securities reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $811.00 target price on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Loop Capital lifted their price target on Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $575.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 6th. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $600.00 price objective on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday, September 26th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $640.00 to $660.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, thirty-five have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $634.10.

Meta Platforms Trading Down 0.7 %

Meta Platforms stock opened at $559.14 on Friday. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 52 week low of $313.66 and a 52 week high of $602.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a quick ratio of 2.73 and a current ratio of 2.73. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.41 trillion, a PE ratio of 26.34, a PEG ratio of 1.25 and a beta of 1.22. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $572.74 and its 200-day simple moving average is $524.35.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The social networking company reported $6.03 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 the consensus estimate of $40.21 billion. Equities research analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 22.53 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 26th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 16th were issued a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.36%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 16th. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 9.42%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Meta Platforms

In related news, CAO Aaron Anderson sold 731 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $557.00, for a total transaction of $407,167.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 3,414 shares in the company, valued at $1,901,598. The trade was a 17.64 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $519.05, for a total value of $469,740.25. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 39,627 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $20,568,394.35. This trade represents a 2.23 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 168,843 shares of company stock valued at $92,083,554 in the last ninety days. 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.