Garrison Point Advisors LLC Decreases Stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Garrison Point Advisors LLC reduced its position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 1.3% during the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 4,984 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 65 shares during the period. Meta Platforms accounts for about 1.7% of Garrison Point Advisors LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 12th biggest position. Garrison Point Advisors LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $2,513,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vantage Financial Partners LLC raised its position in Meta Platforms by 3.2% during the fourth quarter. Vantage Financial Partners LLC now owns 1,323 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $468,000 after purchasing an additional 41 shares during the period. Concentrum Wealth Management raised its position in Meta Platforms by 111.0% during the fourth quarter. Concentrum Wealth Management now owns 7,391,877 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $2,616,000 after purchasing an additional 3,888,308 shares during the period. Aveo Capital Partners LLC raised its position in Meta Platforms by 45.7% during the fourth quarter. Aveo Capital Partners LLC now owns 2,302 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $815,000 after purchasing an additional 722 shares during the period. 9258 Wealth Management LLC raised its position in Meta Platforms by 66.4% during the fourth quarter. 9258 Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,993 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $1,413,000 after purchasing an additional 1,594 shares during the period. Finally, Rollins Financial raised its position in Meta Platforms by 7.5% during the fourth quarter. Rollins Financial now owns 30,657 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $10,851,000 after purchasing an additional 2,133 shares during the period. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

Shares of META stock opened at $524.62 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.33 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 1.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a current ratio of 2.83 and a quick ratio of 2.83. The business has a fifty day moving average of $505.13 and a 200 day moving average of $495.43. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1 year low of $279.40 and a 1 year high of $544.23.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The social networking company reported $5.16 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.70 by $0.46. The company had revenue of $39.07 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 last year, the firm earned $3.23 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 21.36 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 26th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 16th will be given a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.38%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 16th. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is currently 11.49%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Meta Platforms news, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 5,057 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $526.76, for a total transaction of $2,663,825.32. Following the sale, the chief technology officer now directly owns 11,990 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,315,852.40. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 2,054 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $501.05, for a total value of $1,029,156.70. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 253,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $126,765,650. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 5,057 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $526.76, for a total value of $2,663,825.32. Following the completion of the sale, the chief technology officer now owns 11,990 shares in the company, valued at $6,315,852.40. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 357,574 shares of company stock valued at $185,587,773. Company insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the company. TD Cowen upped their target price on Meta Platforms from $530.00 to $600.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 10th. Bank of America increased their price objective on Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $563.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Wolfe Research began coverage on Meta Platforms in a research note on Tuesday, July 16th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $620.00 price objective on the stock. Sanford C. Bernstein increased their price objective on Meta Platforms from $565.00 to $575.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, July 22nd. Finally, Guggenheim increased their price objective on Meta Platforms from $500.00 to $600.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating, thirty-four have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $577.26.

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.