Wexford Capital LP Sells 547 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Wexford Capital LP cut its holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 32.9% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 1,114 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 547 shares during the period. Wexford Capital LP’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $638,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Jennison Associates LLC lifted its position in Meta Platforms by 1.9% in the third quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 14,440,868 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $8,266,531,000 after purchasing an additional 263,063 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in Meta Platforms by 0.9% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 13,827,565 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $7,915,451,000 after buying an additional 118,298 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in Meta Platforms by 57,001.5% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 9,517,111 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $5,447,975,000 after acquiring an additional 9,500,444 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 2.8% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 7,754,450 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $3,911,029,000 after acquiring an additional 208,677 shares during the period. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 4.6% during the third quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 6,565,134 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $3,758,146,000 after acquiring an additional 289,207 shares during the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Meta Platforms

In other Meta Platforms news, CFO Susan J. Li sold 8,951 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $577.16, for a total transaction of $5,166,159.16. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 51,591 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $29,776,261.56. This trade represents a 14.78 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CAO Aaron Anderson sold 731 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $557.00, for a total transaction of $407,167.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 3,414 shares in the company, valued at $1,901,598. This trade represents a 17.64 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 142,160 shares of company stock worth $81,611,223. 13.71% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

META has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Susquehanna raised their target price on Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $675.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their target price on Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $675.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed an “underperform” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. JMP Securities boosted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $635.00 to $660.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, DA Davidson initiated coverage on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Tuesday, September 10th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $600.00 price objective for the company. 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 assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Meta Platforms currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $634.71.

Meta Platforms Trading Down 0.8 %

Shares of Meta Platforms stock opened at $608.93 on Friday. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1-year low of $317.04 and a 1-year high of $619.90. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $577.69 and its 200-day simple moving average is $530.51. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $1.54 trillion, a PE ratio of 28.68, a P/E/G ratio of 1.35 and a beta of 1.20.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last announced its earnings results 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. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 35.60% and a net margin of 35.55%. The company had revenue of $40.59 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $40.21 billion. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 22.68 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 27th. Investors of record on Monday, December 16th will be paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.33%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 9.42%.

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.