Proffitt & Goodson Inc. Lowers Position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Proffitt & Goodson Inc. reduced its position in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 7.2% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,808 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 219 shares during the period. Proffitt & Goodson Inc.’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $1,607,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its stake 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 valued at $5,447,975,000 after acquiring an additional 9,500,444 shares during the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors increased its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 14.5% during the 1st quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 34,597,001 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $16,799,612,000 after purchasing an additional 4,379,826 shares in the last quarter. Sustainable Growth Advisers LP acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $595,152,000. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Meta Platforms by 0.4% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 187,180,393 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $90,891,055,000 after buying an additional 831,047 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board lifted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 30.0% in the first quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 3,411,009 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $1,656,318,000 after acquiring an additional 788,131 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Meta Platforms

In related news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 16,702 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $526.94, for a total value of $8,800,951.88. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 46,292 shares in the company, valued at $24,393,106.48. This represents a 26.51 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Christopher K. Cox sold 20,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $557.52, for a total transaction of $11,150,400.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 338,662 shares in the company, valued at approximately $188,810,838.24. The trade was a 5.58 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 158,200 shares of company stock worth $84,533,106. Company insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Trading Down 0.5 %

Shares of NASDAQ META opened at $577.16 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $1.46 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.17, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 1.22. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $565.83 and its 200 day simple moving average is $518.72. The company has a current ratio of 2.73, a quick ratio of 2.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12-month low of $313.66 and a 12-month high of $602.95.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 35.55% and a return on equity of 35.60%. The company had revenue of $40.59 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $40.21 billion. Equities research analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 22.53 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 26th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 16th were issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend 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 (DPR) is presently 9.42%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently commented on the company. Benchmark reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. Sanford C. Bernstein raised their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $675.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Truist Financial lifted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $570.00 to $650.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $675.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Finally, UBS Group upped their price objective 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. 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 stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $634.10.

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.