Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) Shares Sold by New York State Teachers Retirement System

New York State Teachers Retirement System lessened its holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 4.4% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,026,607 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 92,896 shares during the period. Meta Platforms comprises approximately 2.4% of New York State Teachers Retirement System’s portfolio, making the stock its 5th biggest position. New York State Teachers Retirement System owned about 0.08% of Meta Platforms worth $1,160,111,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the business. Gradient Investments LLC boosted its position in Meta Platforms by 8.9% during the second quarter. Gradient Investments LLC now owns 72,587 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $36,600,000 after purchasing an additional 5,953 shares during the last quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. boosted its position in Meta Platforms by 14.0% during the first quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. now owns 6,101,501 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $2,962,767,000 after purchasing an additional 748,076 shares during the last quarter. Stanley Laman Group Ltd. boosted its position in Meta Platforms by 26.5% during the second quarter. Stanley Laman Group Ltd. now owns 1,678 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $846,000 after purchasing an additional 352 shares during the last quarter. Cutter & CO Brokerage Inc. boosted its position in Meta Platforms by 0.7% during the third quarter. Cutter & CO Brokerage Inc. now owns 9,735 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $5,573,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Lincoln National Corp boosted its position in Meta Platforms by 7.8% during the first quarter. Lincoln National Corp now owns 34,790 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $16,894,000 after purchasing an additional 2,504 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Susan J. Li sold 8,950 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $526.76, for a total transaction of $4,714,502.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 74,579 shares in the company, valued at $39,285,234.04. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, CFO Susan J. Li sold 8,950 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $526.76, for a total transaction of $4,714,502.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 74,579 shares in the company, valued at $39,285,234.04. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 492 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $600.75, for a total value of $295,569.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 518,508 shares in the company, valued at approximately $311,493,681. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 251,993 shares of company stock worth $133,271,982 in the last three months. Insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Trading Down 0.1 %

META stock opened at $567.16 on Friday. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1-year low of $308.33 and a 1-year high of $602.95. The firm has a market cap of $1.43 trillion, a P/E ratio of 26.72, a P/E/G ratio of 1.44 and a beta of 1.22. The business’s 50 day moving average is $555.99 and its 200-day moving average is $513.12. The company has a current ratio of 2.83, a quick ratio of 2.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The social networking company reported $6.03 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.19 by $0.84. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 36.26% and a net margin of 35.55%. The company had revenue of $40.59 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $40.21 billion. Equities analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 21.47 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared 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. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 16th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a 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 issued reports on META shares. Pivotal Research lifted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $780.00 to $800.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday. Oppenheimer raised their target price on Meta Platforms from $525.00 to $615.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $570.00 target price on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday, August 1st. TD Cowen raised their target price on Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $675.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, DA Davidson initiated coverage on Meta Platforms in a report on Tuesday, September 10th. They set a “buy” rating and a $600.00 target price on the stock. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, thirty-five have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $634.10.

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.