Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) Shares Sold by Strategy Asset Managers LLC

Strategy Asset Managers LLC lessened its stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 6.9% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 16,575 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 1,221 shares during the period. Meta Platforms accounts for approximately 1.8% of Strategy Asset Managers LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 11th largest position. Strategy Asset Managers LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $9,488,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its position in Meta Platforms by 48.8% during the first quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 49,191 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $23,886,000 after buying an additional 16,138 shares during the period. Cypress Asset Management Inc. TX grew its position 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 acquiring an additional 3,224 shares during the last quarter. Hyperion Capital Advisors LP increased its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 3.5% in the 1st quarter. Hyperion Capital Advisors LP now owns 29,527 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $14,338,000 after acquiring an additional 1,000 shares during the period. Steel Grove Capital Advisors LLC raised its position in Meta Platforms by 68.7% in the 1st quarter. Steel Grove Capital Advisors LLC now owns 1,711 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $831,000 after purchasing an additional 697 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Beck Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Meta Platforms by 3.1% during the 1st quarter. Beck Capital Management LLC now owns 26,390 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $12,814,000 after purchasing an additional 798 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently commented on META. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $690.00 to $719.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed an “underperform” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. TD Cowen lifted their target price on Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $675.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Citigroup upped their price target on Meta Platforms from $645.00 to $705.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, KeyCorp lifted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $560.00 to $655.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, thirty-five have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $634.10.

Insider Activity at Meta Platforms

In related news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $507.63, for a total transaction of $459,405.15. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 37,817 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $19,197,043.71. This represents a 2.34 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Christopher K. Cox sold 20,000 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $557.52, for a total transaction of $11,150,400.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 338,662 shares in the company, valued at approximately $188,810,838.24. This trade represents a 5.58 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 168,843 shares of company stock worth $92,083,554. 13.71% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:META opened at $559.14 on Friday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $572.74 and a 200-day simple moving average of $523.96. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 52 week low of $313.66 and a 52 week high of $602.95. The company has a market cap of $1.41 trillion, a P/E ratio of 26.34, a P/E/G ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.22. The company has a quick ratio of 2.73, a current ratio of 2.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The social networking company reported $6.03 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 company had revenue of $40.59 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $40.21 billion. Equities research analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 22.53 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 26th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 16th were issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 16th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.36%. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is 9.42%.

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.