Cary Street Partners Asset Management LLC Decreases Stock Holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Cary Street Partners Asset Management LLC lessened its holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 1.9% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 7,755 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 152 shares during the quarter. Cary Street Partners Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $4,439,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of META. Gradient Investments LLC grew its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 8.9% in the 2nd quarter. Gradient Investments LLC now owns 72,587 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $36,600,000 after buying an additional 5,953 shares during the last quarter. Stanley Laman Group Ltd. boosted its stake in Meta Platforms by 26.5% in the second quarter. Stanley Laman Group Ltd. now owns 1,678 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $846,000 after acquiring an additional 352 shares in the last quarter. Cutter & CO Brokerage Inc. grew its holdings in shares of 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 worth $5,573,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares during the last quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC increased its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.4% during the third quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 412,046 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $235,872,000 after purchasing an additional 5,594 shares in the last quarter. Finally, BCGM Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 5.3% in the 1st quarter. BCGM Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,311 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $637,000 after purchasing an additional 66 shares during the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on META shares. Piper Sandler raised their price target on Meta Platforms from $575.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Monness Crespi & Hardt lifted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $620.00 to $660.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $600.00 price target on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday, September 26th. 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 note on Friday, August 16th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reissued an “underperform” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, thirty-five have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $634.10.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 5,057 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $526.76, for a total transaction of $2,663,825.32. Following the transaction, the chief technology officer now directly owns 11,990 shares in the company, valued at $6,315,852.40. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In related news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 901 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $567.70, for a total value of $511,497.70. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 30,581 shares in the company, valued at approximately $17,360,833.70. 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 can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 5,057 shares of the company’s 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 sale, the chief technology officer now owns 11,990 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,315,852.40. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 228,118 shares of company stock valued at $121,237,935. Insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Trading Up 3.4 %

Shares of META stock opened at $591.70 on Friday. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a twelve month low of $313.66 and a twelve month high of $602.95. The company has a market capitalization of $1.50 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.87, a PEG ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.22. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $558.95 and a 200 day moving average price of $514.71. 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 (NASDAQ:META) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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. The business had revenue of $40.59 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $40.21 billion. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 35.55% and a return on equity of 35.60%. Research analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 22.53 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The firm 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 16th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.34%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 9.42%.

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.