First Dallas Securities Inc. Sells 450 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

First Dallas Securities Inc. lessened its position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 5.4% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 7,923 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 450 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms accounts for 1.9% of First Dallas Securities Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 11th largest position. First Dallas Securities Inc.’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $4,535,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.9% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 13,827,565 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $7,915,451,000 after purchasing an additional 118,298 shares during the last quarter. LS Investment Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 111.4% in the third quarter. LS Investment Advisors LLC now owns 11,679 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $6,686,000 after acquiring an additional 6,155 shares in the last quarter. Gradient Investments LLC grew its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 8.9% during the second quarter. Gradient Investments LLC now owns 72,587 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $36,600,000 after acquiring an additional 5,953 shares during the last quarter. Cutter & CO Brokerage Inc. increased 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 valued at $5,573,000 after acquiring an additional 65 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Stanley Laman Group Ltd. raised its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 26.5% in the 2nd quarter. Stanley Laman Group Ltd. now owns 1,678 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $846,000 after purchasing an additional 352 shares during the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Meta Platforms Stock Down 1.6 %

Shares of NASDAQ:META opened at $613.57 on Tuesday. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $319.99 and a fifty-two week high of $629.79. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $580.47 and its 200 day moving average price is $534.10. 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 stock has a market cap of $1.55 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 1.20.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The social networking company reported $6.03 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.19 by $0.84. The business had revenue of $40.59 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $40.21 billion. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 35.55% and a return on equity of 35.60%. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 22.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 27th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 16th will be issued a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 16th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.33%. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is currently 9.42%.

Insider Transactions at Meta Platforms

In related news, COO Javier Olivan sold 413 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, September 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $520.57, for a total transaction of $214,995.41. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 13,185 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,863,715.45. This trade represents a 3.04 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 84 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, October 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $600.00, for a total transaction of $50,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 518,424 shares in the company, valued at $311,054,400. This represents a 0.02 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 164,201 shares of company stock valued at $95,420,559. Corporate insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have weighed in on the stock. KeyCorp boosted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $560.00 to $655.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Hsbc Global Res raised shares of Meta Platforms to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on Meta Platforms from $555.00 to $636.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, October 14th. Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $675.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target on Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $675.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Two research 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 assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus 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.