Alesco Advisors LLC Reduces Holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Alesco Advisors LLC reduced its position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 17.5% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 430 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 91 shares during the period. Alesco Advisors LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $246,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of META. POM Investment Strategies LLC purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $38,000. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 122.2% during 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. Halpern Financial Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the third quarter worth $46,000. West Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Meta Platforms in the third quarter valued at $49,000. Finally, NewSquare Capital LLC boosted its stake in Meta Platforms by 221.9% during the 2nd quarter. NewSquare Capital LLC now owns 103 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $52,000 after acquiring an additional 71 shares during the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other Meta Platforms news, insider Nicholas Clegg sold 1,131 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $577.16, for a total transaction of $652,767.96. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 1,229 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $709,329.64. The trade was a 47.92 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Susan J. Li sold 33,018 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 152,141 shares of company stock worth $83,390,497 over the last 90 days. 13.71% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:META opened at $559.14 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $1.41 trillion, a PE ratio of 26.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.25 and a beta of 1.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a quick ratio of 2.73 and a current ratio of 2.73. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $572.74 and a 200-day moving average of $524.71. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a one year low of $313.66 and a one year high of $602.95.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The social networking company reported $6.03 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.19 by $0.84. The business 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 35.60% and a net margin of 35.55%. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 22.53 EPS for the current fiscal 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 given a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.36%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 16th. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 9.42%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on META. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $690.00 to $719.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. TD Cowen increased their target price on Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $675.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on Meta Platforms from $555.00 to $636.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, October 14th. Hsbc Global Res upgraded Meta Platforms to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, Truist Financial boosted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $570.00 to $650.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, thirty-five have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Meta Platforms presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $634.10.

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.