Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) Shares Sold by IRON Financial LLC

IRON Financial LLC lowered its holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 45.4% during the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,079 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 899 shares during the period. IRON Financial LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $617,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. O ROURKE & COMPANY Inc acquired a new position in Meta Platforms in the third quarter valued at approximately $206,000. Cordatus Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in Meta Platforms by 0.8% in the third quarter. Cordatus Wealth Management LLC now owns 4,553 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $2,606,000 after acquiring an additional 36 shares during the period. United Asset Strategies Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 2.3% in the 3rd quarter. United Asset Strategies Inc. now owns 48,028 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $27,493,000 after acquiring an additional 1,059 shares during the period. Whelan Financial lifted its position in Meta Platforms by 6.3% in the 3rd quarter. Whelan Financial now owns 2,423 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $1,387,000 after purchasing an additional 143 shares during the last quarter. Finally, AustralianSuper Pty Ltd lifted its position in Meta Platforms by 51.1% in the 3rd quarter. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd now owns 1,109,444 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $635,090,000 after purchasing an additional 374,981 shares during the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

Meta Platforms stock opened at $567.16 on Monday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $555.99 and its 200-day simple moving average is $513.25. The company has a market cap of $1.43 trillion, a P/E ratio of 26.72, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 1.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a current ratio of 2.73 and a quick ratio of 2.83. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $308.33 and a fifty-two week high of $602.95.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The social networking company reported $6.03 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.19 by $0.84. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 35.55% and a return on equity of 35.60%. The firm had revenue of $40.59 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $40.21 billion. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 21.84 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.35%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 16th. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is presently 9.42%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently weighed in on META. Tigress Financial lifted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $575.00 to $645.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 16th. DA Davidson began coverage on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Tuesday, September 10th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $600.00 price objective on the stock. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $575.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Scotiabank cut their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $585.00 to $583.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $645.00 to $705.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, thirty-five have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $634.10.

Insider Activity at Meta Platforms

In related news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 6,534 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $505.04, for a total transaction of $3,299,931.36. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 116,108 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $58,639,184.32. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 6,534 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $505.04, for a total transaction of $3,299,931.36. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 116,108 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $58,639,184.32. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $589.97, for a total transaction of $533,922.85. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 33,292 shares in the company, valued at $19,641,281.24. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 251,092 shares of company stock valued at $132,865,496. Corporate insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

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.