Grimes & Company Inc. Sells 1,227 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Grimes & Company Inc. lessened its holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 2.4% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 50,949 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 1,227 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms accounts for approximately 0.8% of Grimes & Company Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 26th biggest holding. Grimes & Company Inc.’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $29,165,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in META. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Meta Platforms by 0.4% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 187,180,393 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $90,891,055,000 after acquiring an additional 831,047 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors increased its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.6% during the 1st quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 38,299,316 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $18,597,382,000 after purchasing an additional 244,803 shares during the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors raised 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. Jennison Associates LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 24.7% in the 1st quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 13,867,398 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $6,733,731,000 after buying an additional 2,748,620 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GQG Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 3.1% in the first quarter. GQG Partners LLC now owns 11,497,335 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $5,582,876,000 after buying an additional 342,742 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have issued reports on the stock. Guggenheim upped their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $665.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, October 7th. Susquehanna raised their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $600.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Meta Platforms from $610.00 to $640.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 26th. TD Securities upped their price objective on Meta Platforms from $530.00 to $600.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 10th. Finally, Roth Mkm lifted their target price on Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $620.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 11th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, thirty-five have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $621.63.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

NASDAQ:META opened at $573.25 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $551.05 and its 200-day moving average is $510.72. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1-year low of $279.40 and a 1-year high of $602.95. The company has a current ratio of 2.83, a quick ratio of 2.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. The stock has a market cap of $1.45 trillion, a P/E ratio of 29.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.22.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The social networking company reported $5.16 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.70 by $0.46. The firm had revenue of $39.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $38.26 billion. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 34.34% and a return on equity of 34.16%. The company’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 firm posted $3.23 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 21.44 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 26th. Investors of record on Monday, September 16th were given a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.35%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 16th. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is currently 10.21%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 901 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $451.15, for a total transaction of $406,486.15. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 33,324 shares in the company, 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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 901 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $451.15, for a total transaction of $406,486.15. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 33,324 shares in the company, valued at $15,034,122.60. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Peggy Alford sold 1,052 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $479.00, for a total transaction of $503,908.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 6,168 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,954,472. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 250,817 shares of company stock valued at $132,547,715. 13.71% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.