Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) Shares Sold by Portfolio Design Labs LLC

Portfolio Design Labs LLC cut its stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 6.3% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 16,252 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 1,090 shares during the period. Meta Platforms makes up 2.6% of Portfolio Design Labs LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 8th largest position. Portfolio Design Labs LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $9,303,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its stake 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 acquiring an additional 16,138 shares during the last quarter. Cypress Asset Management Inc. TX increased its position in Meta Platforms by 541.8% during the 1st 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 in the last quarter. Hyperion Capital Advisors LP raised its holdings in Meta Platforms by 3.5% in the first quarter. Hyperion Capital Advisors LP now owns 29,527 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $14,338,000 after buying an additional 1,000 shares during the period. Steel Grove Capital Advisors LLC lifted its position in Meta Platforms by 68.7% during the first quarter. Steel Grove Capital Advisors LLC now owns 1,711 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $831,000 after buying an additional 697 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Beck Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Meta Platforms by 3.1% during the first quarter. Beck Capital Management LLC now owns 26,390 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $12,814,000 after buying an additional 798 shares during the period. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other Meta Platforms news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 16,702 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $520.48, for a total transaction of $8,693,056.96. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 2,657 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,382,915.36. This trade represents a 86.28 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 620 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $557.00, for a total transaction of $345,340.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 19,992 shares in the company, valued at $11,135,544. This trade represents a 3.01 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 168,843 shares of company stock valued at $92,083,554. Company insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Trading Down 0.7 %

Shares of NASDAQ:META opened at $559.14 on Friday. 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’s 50-day moving average price is $572.74 and its 200 day moving average price is $523.96. The company has a market cap of $1.41 trillion, a PE ratio of 26.34, a P/E/G ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.22. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $313.66 and a fifty-two week high of $602.95.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last released its quarterly earnings results 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. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 35.60% and a net margin of 35.55%. The company had revenue of $40.59 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $40.21 billion. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 22.53 earnings per share 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 paid a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 16th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.36%. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is 9.42%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on META shares. Oppenheimer lifted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $525.00 to $615.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on Meta Platforms from $590.00 to $663.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, October 14th. Susquehanna raised their target price on Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $675.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Guggenheim upped their price target on Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $665.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, October 7th. Finally, Scotiabank dropped their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $585.00 to $583.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Two investment 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 given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $634.10.

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.