Traphagen Investment Advisors LLC Sells 174 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Traphagen Investment Advisors LLC decreased its position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 5.3% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 3,117 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 174 shares during the quarter. Traphagen Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $1,784,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Delos Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in Meta Platforms by 527.3% during the 1st quarter. Delos Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 69 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 58 shares during the period. POM Investment Strategies LLC bought a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the second quarter worth approximately $38,000. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 122.2% in the second quarter. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. now owns 80 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $40,000 after buying an additional 44 shares during the period. Halpern Financial Inc. bought a new position in Meta Platforms in the third quarter valued at approximately $46,000. Finally, West Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Meta Platforms during the 3rd quarter worth $49,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

META has been the topic of several recent research reports. Susquehanna raised their price target on Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $600.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their target price on Meta Platforms from $525.00 to $585.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Guggenheim upped their price target on Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $665.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, October 7th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $555.00 to $636.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, October 14th. Finally, Wolfe Research started coverage on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Tuesday, July 16th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $620.00 target price for the company. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, thirty-five have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $619.20.

Meta Platforms Trading Down 3.1 %

META stock opened at $563.69 on Thursday. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 52 week low of $279.40 and a 52 week high of $602.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a quick ratio of 2.83 and a current ratio of 2.83. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $548.79 and its 200 day simple moving average is $509.61. The company has a market capitalization of $1.43 trillion, a PE ratio of 32.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.45 and a beta of 1.22.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The social networking company reported $5.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.70 by $0.46. The business had revenue of $39.07 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $38.26 billion. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 34.16% and a net margin of 34.34%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 22.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $3.23 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 21.37 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 26th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 16th were issued a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.35%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 16th. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is currently 11.49%.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 901 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $451.15, for a total value of $406,486.15. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 33,324 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $15,034,122.60. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other news, COO Javier Olivan sold 412 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $521.48, for a total value of $214,849.76. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 5,147 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,684,057.56. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 901 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $451.15, for a total transaction of $406,486.15. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 33,324 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $15,034,122.60. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 249,912 shares of company stock worth $132,027,612. 13.71% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.