Clarius Group LLC Reduces Holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Clarius Group LLC cut its stake in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 2.6% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 17,323 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 463 shares during the period. Meta Platforms makes up 0.7% of Clarius Group LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 24th biggest holding. Clarius Group LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $9,894,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in Meta Platforms by 0.4% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 187,180,393 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $90,891,055,000 after purchasing an additional 831,047 shares during the period. Capital World Investors raised its position in Meta Platforms by 0.6% in the first quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 38,299,316 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $18,597,382,000 after purchasing an additional 244,803 shares during the period. Capital Research Global Investors grew its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 14.5% during the first quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 34,597,001 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $16,799,612,000 after acquiring an additional 4,379,826 shares in the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC lifted its stake in Meta Platforms by 24.7% during the first quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 13,867,398 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $6,733,731,000 after purchasing an additional 2,748,620 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GQG Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 3.1% in the 1st quarter. GQG Partners LLC now owns 11,497,335 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $5,582,876,000 after acquiring an additional 342,742 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have weighed in on META. Barclays upped their target price on Meta Platforms from $520.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Tigress Financial upped 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. Monness Crespi & Hardt lifted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $570.00 to $620.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, September 30th. Rosenblatt Securities upped their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $643.00 to $811.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 26th. Finally, Pivotal Research started coverage on Meta Platforms in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. They set a “buy” rating and a $780.00 price objective for the company. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, thirty-five have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $609.71.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

Meta Platforms stock opened at $583.88 on Friday. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $536.08 and its 200 day simple moving average is $504.92. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12 month low of $279.40 and a 12 month high of $602.95. The company has a market cap of $1.48 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.85, a PEG ratio of 1.45 and a beta of 1.22. The company has a current ratio of 2.83, a quick ratio of 2.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12.

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

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 26th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 16th were given 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 0.34%. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is presently 10.21%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Meta Platforms news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $589.89, for a total transaction of $533,850.45. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 34,197 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,172,468.33. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other Meta Platforms news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $589.89, for a total value of $533,850.45. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 34,197 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,172,468.33. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 1,712 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $502.27, for a total transaction of $859,886.24. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 129,888 shares in the company, valued at approximately $65,238,845.76. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 252,443 shares of company stock worth $133,105,284 in the last ninety days. 13.71% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.