Meta Platforms, Inc. $META Shares Sold by Salem Investment Counselors Inc.

Salem Investment Counselors Inc. lowered its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 1.9% in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 159,516 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 3,169 shares during the period. Meta Platforms accounts for approximately 3.4% of Salem Investment Counselors Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 7th largest position. Salem Investment Counselors Inc.’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $117,146,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Bare Financial Services Inc bought a new stake in Meta Platforms in the 2nd quarter valued at $30,000. Evergreen Private Wealth LLC raised its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 237.5% in the second quarter. Evergreen Private Wealth LLC now owns 54 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $40,000 after purchasing an additional 38 shares during the period. Briaud Financial Planning Inc acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the 2nd quarter worth about $42,000. Knuff & Co LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the 2nd quarter worth about $44,000. Finally, WFA Asset Management Corp grew its stake in Meta Platforms by 42.6% in the 2nd quarter. WFA Asset Management Corp now owns 67 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $49,000 after buying an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Sanford C. Bernstein restated an “outperform” rating and set a $870.00 price objective (down from $900.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. KeyCorp lowered their target price on Meta Platforms from $905.00 to $875.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Erste Group Bank cut Meta Platforms from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, November 10th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price objective on Meta Platforms from $900.00 to $875.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Finally, Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $920.00 target price on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-nine have issued a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $819.46.

Insider Activity at Meta Platforms

In other news, Director Robert M. Kimmitt sold 600 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, November 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $609.35, for a total value of $365,610.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 7,347 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,476,894.45. This represents a 7.55% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Aaron Anderson sold 726 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $591.60, for a total value of $429,501.60. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 6,035 shares in the company, valued at $3,570,306. The trade was a 10.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 42,074 shares of company stock valued at $26,478,698. 13.61% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

NASDAQ META opened at $664.45 on Friday. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1 year low of $479.80 and a 1 year high of $796.25. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.67 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.35, a P/E/G ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 1.28. The company has a current ratio of 1.98, a quick ratio of 1.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $660.69 and its 200 day simple moving average is $707.10.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The social networking company reported $7.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $6.74 by $0.51. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 39.35% and a net margin of 30.89%.The company had revenue of $51.24 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $49.34 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $6.03 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 26.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 23rd. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.525 per share. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 15th. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is presently 9.28%.

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.