Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) Stock Position Lessened by Applied Capital LLC FL

Applied Capital LLC FL cut its stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 7,349 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 57 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms makes up about 3.3% of Applied Capital LLC FL’s portfolio, making the stock its 4th largest position. Applied Capital LLC FL’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $4,207,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Delos Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Meta Platforms by 527.3% in the 1st quarter. Delos Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 69 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 58 shares in the last quarter. POM Investment Strategies LLC bought a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the second quarter worth $38,000. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 122.2% in the second quarter. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. now owns 80 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $40,000 after buying an additional 44 shares in the last quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. boosted its stake in Meta Platforms by 95.6% during the first quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. now owns 88 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $41,000 after buying an additional 43 shares during the period. Finally, Kathleen S. Wright Associates Inc. purchased a new position in Meta Platforms during the first quarter worth about $44,000. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Meta Platforms Stock Down 0.7 %

Shares of NASDAQ META opened at $586.27 on Wednesday. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $542.26 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $507.12. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12 month low of $279.40 and a 12 month high of $602.95. The company has a current ratio of 2.83, a quick ratio of 2.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.49 trillion, a PE ratio of 33.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.45 and a beta of 1.22.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The social networking company reported $5.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 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 prior year, the firm earned $3.23 earnings per share. Meta Platforms’s revenue was up 22.1% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 21.37 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 26th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 16th were paid a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.34%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 16th. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is presently 11.49%.

Insider Activity at Meta Platforms

In other Meta Platforms news, CFO Susan J. Li sold 8,950 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $526.76, for a total value of $4,714,502.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 74,579 shares in the company, valued at approximately $39,285,234.04. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other Meta Platforms news, CFO Susan J. Li sold 8,950 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $526.76, for a total value of $4,714,502.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 74,579 shares in the company, valued at approximately $39,285,234.04. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 150 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $500.49, for a total transaction of $75,073.50. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 124,387 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $62,254,449.63. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 250,239 shares of company stock worth $132,033,148 over the last ninety days. 13.71% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have weighed in on META. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on Meta Platforms from $590.00 to $663.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday. Pivotal Research began coverage on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. They issued a “buy” rating and a $780.00 target price on the stock. Sanford C. Bernstein lifted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $565.00 to $575.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, July 22nd. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $575.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and set a $600.00 price objective on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday, September 26th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, thirty-five have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus 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.