Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. Cuts Holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. reduced its position in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 4.8% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 15,626 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 791 shares during the period. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co.’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $8,945,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 48.8% during the 1st quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 49,191 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $23,886,000 after purchasing an additional 16,138 shares during the last quarter. Cypress Asset Management Inc. TX lifted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 541.8% in the 1st quarter. Cypress Asset Management Inc. TX now owns 3,819 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $1,862,000 after purchasing an additional 3,224 shares in the last quarter. Montchanin Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in Meta Platforms during the 1st quarter worth $498,000. Untitled Investments LP grew its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 45.6% during the first quarter. Untitled Investments LP now owns 34,158 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $16,586,000 after buying an additional 10,705 shares in the last quarter. Finally, CCM Investment Advisers LLC raised its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.4% in the first quarter. CCM Investment Advisers LLC now owns 45,736 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $22,208,000 after buying an additional 163 shares during the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:META opened at $573.54 on Wednesday. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a one year low of $313.66 and a one year high of $602.95. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.45 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.02, a PEG ratio of 1.23 and a beta of 1.22. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $573.38 and a 200-day simple moving average of $525.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a quick ratio of 2.73 and a current ratio of 2.73.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The social networking company reported $6.03 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.19 by $0.84. The company had revenue of $40.59 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $40.21 billion. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 35.60% and a net margin of 35.55%. On average, analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 22.62 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 26th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 16th were paid 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 dividend yield of 0.35%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 9.42%.

Insider Activity at Meta Platforms

In other news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 84 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $600.00, for a total value of $50,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 518,424 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $311,054,400. This trade represents a 0.02 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $589.97, for a total value of $533,922.85. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 33,292 shares in the company, valued at $19,641,281.24. This represents a 2.65 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 110,656 shares of company stock worth $61,933,867 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $590.00 to $663.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, October 14th. Pivotal Research upped their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $780.00 to $800.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Susquehanna boosted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $675.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Scotiabank cut their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $585.00 to $583.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, UBS Group upped their price objective on Meta Platforms from $690.00 to $719.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, thirty-five have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $634.71.

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.