Strengthening Families & Communities LLC Decreases Stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Strengthening Families & Communities LLC reduced its holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 40.3% in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,103 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 744 shares during the period. Strengthening Families & Communities LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $632,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its position in Meta Platforms by 57,001.5% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 9,517,111 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $5,447,975,000 after buying an additional 9,500,444 shares during the period. Capital Research Global Investors raised its stake in Meta Platforms by 14.5% in the first quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 34,597,001 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $16,799,612,000 after buying an additional 4,379,826 shares in the last quarter. Sustainable Growth Advisers LP purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms during the second quarter worth $595,152,000. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board increased its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 30.0% in the 1st quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 3,411,009 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $1,656,318,000 after acquiring an additional 788,131 shares during the period. Finally, Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund lifted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 926.6% during the 2nd quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund now owns 733,358 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $369,774,000 after purchasing an additional 661,923 shares during the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Meta Platforms Stock Up 0.8 %

NASDAQ META opened at $565.52 on Thursday. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $313.66 and a fifty-two week high of $602.95. The stock has a market cap of $1.43 trillion, a PE ratio of 26.64, a P/E/G ratio of 1.23 and a beta of 1.22. 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 business has a 50 day moving average price of $571.30 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $523.03.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The social networking company reported $6.03 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.19 by $0.84. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 35.60% and a net margin of 35.55%. The business had revenue of $40.59 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $40.21 billion. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 22.53 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Meta Platforms news, CFO Susan J. Li sold 33,018 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $517.94, for a total transaction of $17,101,342.92. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 16,702 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $531.46, for a total value of $8,876,444.92. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 11,384 shares in the company, valued at $6,050,140.64. This represents a 59.47 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 185,958 shares of company stock valued at $101,181,747. Company insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently issued reports on META. Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and set a $600.00 price objective on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday, September 26th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $652.00 to $641.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Sanford C. Bernstein upped their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $675.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, October 25th. Guggenheim lifted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $665.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, October 7th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on Meta Platforms from $555.00 to $636.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, October 14th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, thirty-five have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $634.10.

Meta Platforms 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.