Vicus Capital Sells 1,672 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Vicus Capital lessened its holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 38.5% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 2,675 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 1,672 shares during the period. Vicus Capital’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $1,531,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of META. Gradient Investments LLC boosted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 8.9% during 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 period. Baillie Gifford & Co. lifted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 14.0% during the 1st quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. now owns 6,101,501 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $2,962,767,000 after acquiring an additional 748,076 shares during the last quarter. ERn Financial LLC boosted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 59.0% during the 1st quarter. ERn Financial LLC now owns 1,652 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $802,000 after acquiring an additional 613 shares during the period. Stanley Laman Group Ltd. grew its position in Meta Platforms by 26.5% in the 2nd quarter. Stanley Laman Group Ltd. now owns 1,678 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $846,000 after acquiring an additional 352 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Lincoln National Corp lifted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 7.8% during the first quarter. Lincoln National Corp now owns 34,790 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $16,894,000 after purchasing an additional 2,504 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other Meta Platforms news, COO Javier Olivan sold 412 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $521.48, for a total transaction of $214,849.76. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 5,147 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,684,057.56. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Meta Platforms news, COO Javier Olivan sold 412 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $521.48, for a total value of $214,849.76. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 5,147 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,684,057.56. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 5,057 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $526.76, for a total value of $2,663,825.32. Following the completion of the sale, the chief technology officer now directly owns 11,990 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,315,852.40. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 249,912 shares of company stock worth $132,027,612 over the last 90 days. 13.71% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $520.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $600.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Rosenblatt Securities increased their price objective on Meta Platforms from $643.00 to $811.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 26th. Mizuho raised their price objective on Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, Truist Financial upped their target price on Meta Platforms from $570.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, thirty-five have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $619.20.

Meta Platforms Stock Down 3.1 %

Meta Platforms stock opened at $563.69 on Thursday. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $279.40 and a fifty-two week high of $602.95. The company has a market cap of $1.43 trillion, a PE ratio of 32.38, a PEG ratio of 1.45 and a beta of 1.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a quick ratio of 2.83 and a current ratio of 2.83. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $548.79 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $509.61.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The social networking company reported $5.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.70 by $0.46. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 34.16% and a net margin of 34.34%. The company had revenue of $39.07 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $38.26 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $3.23 earnings per share. Meta Platforms’s revenue for the quarter was up 22.1% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 21.37 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 26th. Investors of record on Monday, September 16th were paid a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 16th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.35%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is currently 11.49%.

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.