Golden State Equity Partners Reduces Stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Golden State Equity Partners lowered its position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 2.1% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 5,287 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 115 shares during the period. Golden State Equity Partners’ holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $3,026,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Gradient Investments LLC raised its position in Meta Platforms by 8.9% in the second quarter. Gradient Investments LLC now owns 72,587 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $36,600,000 after purchasing an additional 5,953 shares during the period. Baillie Gifford & Co. increased its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 14.0% during the 1st quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. now owns 6,101,501 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $2,962,767,000 after purchasing an additional 748,076 shares during the last quarter. Stanley Laman Group Ltd. lifted its position in Meta Platforms by 26.5% in the second quarter. Stanley Laman Group Ltd. now owns 1,678 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $846,000 after buying an additional 352 shares during the last quarter. Lincoln National Corp boosted its stake in Meta Platforms by 7.8% during the first quarter. Lincoln National Corp now owns 34,790 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $16,894,000 after buying an additional 2,504 shares during the period. Finally, BCGM Wealth Management LLC increased its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 5.3% during the first quarter. BCGM Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,311 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $637,000 after acquiring an additional 66 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Stock Down 0.1 %

Meta Platforms stock opened at $567.16 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $555.99 and a two-hundred day moving average of $513.03. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a twelve month low of $308.33 and a twelve month high of $602.95. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.43 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.72, a PEG ratio of 1.44 and a beta of 1.22. The company has a current ratio of 2.83, a quick ratio of 2.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The social networking company reported $6.03 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.19 by $0.84. The firm had revenue of $40.59 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $40.21 billion. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 36.26% and a net margin of 35.55%. As a group, research analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 21.47 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 26th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 16th were paid 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 dividend yield of 0.35%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 9.42%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Meta Platforms news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 420 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $600.17, for a total value of $252,071.40. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 518,004 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $310,890,460.68. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 420 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $600.17, for a total value of $252,071.40. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 518,004 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $310,890,460.68. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 901 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $451.15, for a total value of $406,486.15. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 33,324 shares in the company, valued at $15,034,122.60. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 251,993 shares of company stock valued at $133,271,982 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently weighed in on META. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $525.00 to $585.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. DA Davidson began coverage on Meta Platforms in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $600.00 price objective for the company. Needham & Company LLC reissued an “underperform” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday. Benchmark reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. Finally, Robert W. Baird increased their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $605.00 to $630.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday. Two 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 issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $634.10.

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.