Richard W. Paul & Associates LLC Has $2.10 Million Stock Position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Richard W. Paul & Associates LLC lessened its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 5.6% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 3,673 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 216 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms makes up approximately 0.8% of Richard W. Paul & Associates LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 25th largest position. Richard W. Paul & Associates LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $2,103,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of META. Guinness Asset Management LTD lifted its position in Meta Platforms by 9.2% during the first quarter. Guinness Asset Management LTD now owns 94,253 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $45,781,000 after acquiring an additional 7,952 shares during the last quarter. Gulf International Bank UK Ltd increased its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.6% during the first quarter. Gulf International Bank UK Ltd now owns 188,047 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $91,311,000 after purchasing an additional 2,948 shares during the period. Bennett Selby Investments LP lifted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 0.3% during the 1st quarter. Bennett Selby Investments LP now owns 34,225 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $16,619,000 after purchasing an additional 98 shares during the last quarter. Sebold Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in Meta Platforms by 52.9% in the 1st quarter. Sebold Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,054 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $997,000 after purchasing an additional 711 shares during the period. Finally, Liberty Capital Management Inc. grew its holdings in Meta Platforms by 19.2% in the 1st quarter. Liberty Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,210 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $588,000 after buying an additional 195 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on META shares. Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $600.00 target price on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday, September 26th. Pivotal Research initiated coverage on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. They set a “buy” rating and a $780.00 price target on the stock. Roth Mkm boosted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $620.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 11th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $590.00 to $663.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, October 14th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein lifted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $565.00 to $575.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, July 22nd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, thirty-five have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $617.37.

Insider Transactions at Meta Platforms

In related news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $489.80, for a total transaction of $443,269.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 35,130 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $17,206,674. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, CFO Susan J. Li sold 8,950 shares of the business’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 $4,714,502.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 74,579 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $39,285,234.04. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $489.80, for a total value of $443,269.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 35,130 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $17,206,674. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 250,816 shares of company stock worth $132,421,828. Company insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:META opened at $576.47 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $1.46 trillion, a PE ratio of 33.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.45 and a beta of 1.22. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 52 week low of $279.40 and a 52 week high of $602.95. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $546.53 and its 200-day moving average is $508.76. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a quick ratio of 2.83 and a current ratio of 2.83.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The social networking company reported $5.16 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.70 by $0.46. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 34.16% and a net margin of 34.34%. The firm had revenue of $39.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $38.26 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $3.23 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 22.1% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 21.37 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 26th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 16th were issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 16th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.35%. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is 11.49%.

Meta Platforms Company 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.