MetLife Investment Management LLC Sells 18,165 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

MetLife Investment Management LLC trimmed its position in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 2.6% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 668,018 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 18,165 shares during the period. Meta Platforms comprises approximately 2.2% of MetLife Investment Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 5th largest position. MetLife Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $382,400,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. POM Investment Strategies LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the second quarter worth approximately $38,000. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. boosted its stake in Meta Platforms by 122.2% during the 2nd quarter. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. now owns 80 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $40,000 after acquiring an additional 44 shares during the last quarter. Halpern Financial Inc. acquired a new position in Meta Platforms during the 3rd quarter worth $46,000. West Financial Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the 3rd quarter worth about $49,000. Finally, NewSquare Capital LLC raised its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 221.9% in the 2nd quarter. NewSquare Capital LLC now owns 103 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $52,000 after purchasing an additional 71 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

META has been the subject of a number of research reports. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $575.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Pivotal Research boosted their price target on Meta Platforms from $780.00 to $800.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Scotiabank reduced their price objective on Meta Platforms from $585.00 to $583.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $600.00 target price on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday, September 26th. Finally, Loop Capital raised their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $575.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 6th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, thirty-five have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $634.71.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ META opened at $569.20 on Friday. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a one year low of $313.66 and a one year high of $602.95. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $574.75 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $526.33. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a current ratio of 2.73 and a quick ratio of 2.73. The company has a market capitalization of $1.44 trillion, a P/E ratio of 26.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.25 and a beta of 1.22.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last released its quarterly earnings data 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. The firm had revenue of $40.59 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $40.21 billion. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 35.60% and a net margin of 35.55%. Analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 22.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 26th. Investors 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 was Monday, September 16th. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is presently 9.42%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 84 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $600.00, for a total transaction of $50,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 518,424 shares in the company, valued at approximately $311,054,400. This represents a 0.02 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $565.30, for a total value of $511,596.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 37,790 shares in the company, valued at $21,362,687. The trade was a 2.34 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 106,239 shares of company stock worth $59,681,541. Corporate insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Company 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.