SWS Partners Sells 461 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

SWS Partners trimmed its position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 9.9% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 4,175 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 461 shares during the period. SWS Partners’ holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $2,390,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Hayek Kallen Investment Management raised its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 4.4% during the 3rd quarter. Hayek Kallen Investment Management now owns 575 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $329,000 after buying an additional 24 shares in the last quarter. Norway Savings Bank raised its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 2.3% during the 3rd quarter. Norway Savings Bank now owns 3,669 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $2,100,000 after buying an additional 81 shares in the last quarter. TTP Investments Inc. raised its position in Meta Platforms by 7.4% in the 3rd quarter. TTP Investments Inc. now owns 18,339 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $10,498,000 after purchasing an additional 1,268 shares during the period. NBC Securities Inc. raised its position in Meta Platforms by 6.6% in the 3rd quarter. NBC Securities Inc. now owns 7,923 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $4,535,000 after purchasing an additional 491 shares during the period. Finally, Occidental Asset Management LLC raised its position in Meta Platforms by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter. Occidental Asset Management LLC now owns 24,129 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $13,812,000 after purchasing an additional 242 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

Shares of META traded down $4.37 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $586.05. 6,189,414 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 15,280,146. 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 stock has a 50-day moving average price of $540.41 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $506.41. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1 year low of $279.40 and a 1 year high of $602.95. The stock has a market cap of $1.49 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.73, a P/E/G ratio of 1.45 and a beta of 1.22.

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

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 26th. Shareholders 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.34%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is currently 11.49%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Meta Platforms news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $589.89, for a total value of $533,850.45. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 34,197 shares in the company, valued at $20,172,468.33. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, CFO Susan J. Li sold 33,018 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 27th. The shares were 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 is available at this link. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $589.89, for a total transaction of $533,850.45. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 34,197 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $20,172,468.33. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 249,826 shares of company stock worth $131,791,613 over the last three months. 13.71% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $580.00 to $645.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, September 23rd. KeyCorp boosted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $560.00 to $655.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $590.00 to $663.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday. Monness Crespi & Hardt boosted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $570.00 to $620.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, September 30th. Finally, TD Securities lifted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $530.00 to $600.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 10th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, thirty-five have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $613.46.

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.