Transamerica Financial Advisors Inc. Trims Stock Position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Transamerica Financial Advisors Inc. lessened its stake in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 3.7% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 12,371 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 469 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms comprises about 0.7% of Transamerica Financial Advisors Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 27th biggest holding. Transamerica Financial Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $7,082,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Shum Financial Group Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $207,000. J. Stern & Co. LLP raised its position in Meta Platforms by 6.2% in the 3rd quarter. J. Stern & Co. LLP now owns 118,164 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $67,642,000 after purchasing an additional 6,858 shares during the last quarter. Lazard Freres Gestion S.A.S. raised its position in Meta Platforms by 114.1% in the 3rd quarter. Lazard Freres Gestion S.A.S. now owns 48,557 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $27,795,000 after purchasing an additional 25,879 shares during the last quarter. Principal Street Partners LLC raised its position in Meta Platforms by 98.9% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Street Partners LLC now owns 32,889 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $18,827,000 after purchasing an additional 16,354 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Brooklyn Investment Group raised its position in Meta Platforms by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 8,862 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $5,073,000 after purchasing an additional 54 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Meta Platforms

In related news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 84 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $600.00, for a total value of $50,400.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 518,424 shares in the company, valued at approximately $311,054,400. This trade represents a 0.02 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CAO Aaron Anderson sold 731 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $557.00, for a total transaction of $407,167.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 3,414 shares in the company, valued at $1,901,598. The trade was a 17.64 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 111,561 shares of company stock worth $62,445,464 in the last three months. Company insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

Meta Platforms stock opened at $569.20 on Thursday. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12-month low of $313.66 and a 12-month high of $602.95. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.44 trillion, a P/E ratio of 26.81, a P/E/G ratio of 1.25 and a beta of 1.22. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $574.12 and its two-hundred day moving average is $526.03. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a current ratio of 2.73 and a quick ratio of 2.73.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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. The business had revenue of $40.59 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $40.21 billion. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 35.55% and a return on equity of 35.60%. Equities analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 22.62 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 26th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 16th were issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 16th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.35%. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is currently 9.42%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently commented on META. Rosenblatt Securities reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $811.00 price target on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Robert W. Baird upped their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $605.00 to $630.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $555.00 to $636.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, October 14th. Truist Financial upped their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $570.00 to $650.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, JMP Securities upped their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $635.00 to $660.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Two investment 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 assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Meta Platforms presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $634.71.

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.