Marco Investment Management LLC Trims Holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Marco Investment Management LLC cut its position in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 10.8% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 10,279 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 1,249 shares during the quarter. Marco Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $5,884,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of META. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its holdings in Meta Platforms by 48.8% in the 1st quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 49,191 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $23,886,000 after acquiring an additional 16,138 shares during the last quarter. Cypress Asset Management Inc. TX boosted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 541.8% during the first quarter. Cypress Asset Management Inc. TX now owns 3,819 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $1,862,000 after purchasing an additional 3,224 shares during the last quarter. Redwood Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the first quarter valued at $1,829,000. Creekmur Asset Management LLC increased its stake in Meta Platforms by 59.6% in the first quarter. Creekmur Asset Management LLC now owns 1,026 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $498,000 after purchasing an additional 383 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Clear Point Advisors Inc. lifted its position in Meta Platforms by 7.8% during the first quarter. Clear Point Advisors Inc. now owns 1,036 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $503,000 after buying an additional 75 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Trading Up 1.1 %

NASDAQ:META opened at $565.11 on Tuesday. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 52 week low of $313.66 and a 52 week high of $602.95. The company has a quick ratio of 2.73, a current ratio of 2.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18. The company has a market cap of $1.43 trillion, a PE ratio of 26.62, a P/E/G ratio of 1.23 and a beta of 1.22. The business’s 50 day moving average is $573.38 and its two-hundred day moving average is $525.35.

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, topping the consensus estimate of $5.19 by $0.84. The firm had revenue of $40.59 billion for 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 Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 26th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 16th were issued a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.35%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 16th. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 9.42%.

Insider Activity at Meta Platforms

In related news, insider Christopher K. Cox sold 20,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $557.52, for a total transaction of $11,150,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 338,662 shares in the company, valued at $188,810,838.24. This represents a 5.58 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 84 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, October 14th. The shares were 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 owns 518,424 shares in the company, valued at $311,054,400. The trade was a 0.02 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 118,218 shares of company stock valued at $65,819,414 in the last quarter. Insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

META has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price target on Meta Platforms from $525.00 to $585.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. DA Davidson began coverage on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Tuesday, September 10th. They set a “buy” rating and a $600.00 price target for the company. Tigress Financial lifted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $575.00 to $645.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 16th. Oppenheimer upped their price objective on Meta Platforms from $525.00 to $615.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, Guggenheim lifted their target price on Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $665.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, October 7th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, thirty-five have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Meta Platforms has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $634.71.

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.