Fred Alger Management LLC Sells 37,501 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Fred Alger Management LLC decreased its stake in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 1.9% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 1,901,073 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 37,501 shares during the period. Meta Platforms accounts for 5.3% of Fred Alger Management LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 5th largest position. Fred Alger Management LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $1,088,250,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. POM Investment Strategies LLC purchased a new position in Meta Platforms in the second quarter valued at approximately $38,000. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. increased 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 acquiring an additional 44 shares in the last quarter. Halpern Financial Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the 3rd quarter valued at $46,000. West Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the 3rd quarter valued at $49,000. Finally, NewSquare Capital LLC boosted its position in Meta Platforms by 221.9% during the 2nd quarter. NewSquare Capital LLC now owns 103 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $52,000 after purchasing an additional 71 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Stock Up 0.9 %

Shares of Meta Platforms stock opened at $574.32 on Friday. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1-year low of $313.66 and a 1-year high of $602.95. The company has a market capitalization of $1.45 trillion, a P/E ratio of 27.05, a PEG ratio of 1.25 and a beta of 1.22. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $575.21 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $527.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a current ratio of 2.73 and a quick ratio of 2.73.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 business had revenue of $40.59 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $40.21 billion. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 35.55% and a return on equity of 35.60%. As a group, research analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 22.62 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 26th. Investors 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 is presently 9.42%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $520.00, for a total transaction of $470,600.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 38,722 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,135,440. This trade represents a 2.28 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 413 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, September 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $520.57, for a total value of $214,995.41. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 13,185 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,863,715.45. This trade represents a 3.04 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 106,239 shares of company stock valued at $59,681,541 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have commented on the company. TD Cowen boosted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $675.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their price target on Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $675.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Mizuho increased their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $650.00 to $675.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $652.00 to $641.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Bank of America raised their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $630.00 to $660.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Two 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 issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $634.71.

Meta Platforms 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.