Centre Asset Management LLC Decreases Position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Centre Asset Management LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 8.1% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 19,183 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 1,680 shares during the period. Meta Platforms comprises approximately 2.6% of Centre Asset Management LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 9th largest position. Centre Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $11,232,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.9% during the third 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 buying an additional 118,298 shares during the period. LS Investment Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of 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 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. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC boosted its stake in Meta Platforms by 1.4% in the 3rd quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 412,046 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $235,872,000 after purchasing an additional 5,594 shares in the last quarter. Finally, M&G PLC raised its holdings in Meta Platforms by 14.6% in the third quarter. M&G PLC now owns 721,339 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $412,606,000 after buying an additional 91,773 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Trading Down 0.2 %

Meta Platforms stock traded down $1.15 during trading on Friday, reaching $598.09. 2,881,789 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 7,386,771. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a current ratio of 2.73 and a quick ratio of 2.73. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $589.25 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $548.19. The company has a market capitalization of $1.51 trillion, a P/E ratio of 28.17, a PEG ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 1.20. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 52-week low of $343.40 and a 52-week high of $638.40.

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, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.19 by $0.84. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 35.55% and a return on equity of 35.60%. The firm had revenue of $40.59 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $40.21 billion. On average, equities research analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 22.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 27th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 16th were paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.33%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 16th. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 9.42%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently commented on META. Rosenblatt Securities reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $811.00 price objective on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Needham & Company LLC reiterated an “underperform” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Susquehanna upped their price objective on Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $675.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Hsbc Global Res upgraded shares of Meta Platforms to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $555.00 to $636.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, October 14th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, thirty-five have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Meta Platforms has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $642.88.

Insider Transactions at Meta Platforms

In other news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $591.76, for a total transaction of $535,542.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 32,915 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $19,477,780.40. This represents a 2.68 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 492 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $600.75, for a total value of $295,569.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 518,508 shares in the company, valued at $311,493,681. This trade represents a 0.09 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 327,116 shares of company stock worth $198,171,544 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

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.