Munro Partners Lowers Stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

Munro Partners decreased its position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 22.6% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 169,865 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 49,540 shares during the period. Meta Platforms comprises about 3.4% of Munro Partners’ portfolio, making the stock its 7th biggest holding. Munro Partners’ holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $124,745,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of META. Bare Financial Services Inc purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms in the 2nd quarter worth about $30,000. Evergreen Private Wealth LLC lifted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 237.5% during 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 last quarter. Briaud Financial Planning Inc bought a new position in Meta Platforms during the second quarter worth about $42,000. Knuff & Co LLC purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the second quarter worth about $44,000. Finally, WFA Asset Management Corp increased its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 42.6% in the second quarter. WFA Asset Management Corp now owns 67 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $49,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently commented on META shares. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Tuesday, October 14th. Piper Sandler dropped their target price on Meta Platforms from $880.00 to $840.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. TD Cowen reduced their price target on Meta Platforms from $875.00 to $810.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Wall Street Zen lowered Meta Platforms from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, November 1st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on Meta Platforms from $837.00 to $802.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-nine have assigned a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $820.22.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

Shares of META opened at $663.29 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $1.67 trillion, a PE ratio of 29.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.37 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 stock has a 50-day moving average price of $654.81 and a 200-day moving average price of $706.27. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12-month low of $479.80 and a 12-month high of $796.25.

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

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 23rd. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 15th were issued 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 was Monday, December 15th. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is currently 9.28%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CAO Aaron Anderson sold 726 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $591.60, for a total transaction of $429,501.60. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 6,035 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,570,306. This represents a 10.74% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Robert M. Kimmitt sold 600 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $609.35, for a total value of $365,610.00. Following 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 42,074 shares of company stock valued at $26,359,548 in the last three months. 13.61% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Meta Platforms Company Profile

Meta Platforms, Inc (NASDAQ: META), formerly Facebook, Inc, is a global technology company best known for building social networking services and immersive computing platforms. Founded in 2004 and headquartered in Menlo Park, California, the company operates a family of consumer-facing products and services that connect users, creators and businesses. In October 2021 the company rebranded as Meta to reflect an expanded strategic focus on augmented and virtual reality technologies alongside its social media businesses.

Meta’s core consumer products include Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp and Messenger, which enable social networking, messaging, content sharing and community building across mobile and desktop devices.