Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) Shares Sold by Alesco Advisors LLC

Alesco Advisors LLC lowered its stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 17.5% during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 430 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 91 shares during the period. Alesco Advisors LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $246,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in META. LS Investment Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 111.4% in the 3rd 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 during the last quarter. Gradient Investments LLC increased its holdings in Meta Platforms by 8.9% in the second quarter. Gradient Investments LLC now owns 72,587 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $36,600,000 after buying an additional 5,953 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in Meta Platforms by 0.9% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 13,827,565 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $7,915,451,000 after buying an additional 118,298 shares during the last quarter. Cutter & CO Brokerage Inc. raised its stake in Meta Platforms by 0.7% in the third 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. Finally, Stanley Laman Group Ltd. lifted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 26.5% during the 2nd quarter. Stanley Laman Group Ltd. now owns 1,678 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $846,000 after buying an additional 352 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

NASDAQ:META opened at $559.14 on Monday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $572.74 and its 200-day simple moving average is $524.71. 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 stock has a market cap of $1.41 trillion, a PE ratio of 26.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.25 and a beta of 1.22. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $313.66 and a fifty-two week high of $602.95.

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

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 26th. Investors of record on Monday, September 16th were issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 16th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.36%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is presently 9.42%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently commented on META shares. Barclays increased their price objective on Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $630.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Loop Capital increased their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $575.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 6th. Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $675.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Citigroup increased their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $645.00 to $705.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Pivotal Research lifted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $780.00 to $800.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, thirty-five have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $634.10.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Meta Platforms news, COO Javier Olivan sold 620 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $557.00, for a total value of $345,340.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 19,992 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,135,544. This represents a 3.01 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 492 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the chief executive officer now owns 518,508 shares in the company, valued at $311,493,681. This represents a 0.09 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 152,141 shares of company stock worth $83,390,497. 13.71% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.