Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) Position Trimmed by McIlrath & Eck LLC

McIlrath & Eck LLC cut its holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 11.0% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 1,914 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 237 shares during the period. McIlrath & Eck LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $1,096,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the business. JDM Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $30,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC bought a new stake in Meta Platforms in the third quarter valued at $36,000. POM Investment Strategies LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the 2nd quarter worth about $38,000. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 122.2% in the 2nd 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 during the period. Finally, Halpern Financial Inc. acquired a new position in Meta Platforms during the 3rd quarter valued at about $46,000. 79.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Meta Platforms Trading Up 0.9 %

Shares of NASDAQ META opened at $619.32 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $1.56 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.17, a PEG ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 1.20. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $581.32 and a 200 day simple moving average of $535.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a quick ratio of 2.73 and a current ratio of 2.73. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 52 week low of $319.99 and a 52 week high of $629.79.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The social networking company reported $6.03 earnings per share (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 analyst estimates of $40.21 billion. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 35.55% and a return on equity of 35.60%. On average, research analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 22.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 27th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 16th will be issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 16th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.32%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 9.42%.

Insider Activity at Meta Platforms

In related news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $595.00, for a total transaction of $538,475.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 36,535 shares in the company, valued at $21,738,325. This represents a 2.42 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 22,946 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, December 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $621.84, for a total transaction of $14,268,740.64. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 164,201 shares of company stock worth $95,420,559. 13.71% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on Meta Platforms from $525.00 to $530.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Truist Financial raised their price objective 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. Barclays upped their target price on Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $630.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. UBS Group lifted their price target on Meta Platforms from $690.00 to $719.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Pivotal Research upped their price objective on Meta Platforms from $780.00 to $800.00 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 issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $635.20.

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.