Premier Fund Managers Ltd Sells 780 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Premier Fund Managers Ltd trimmed its position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 3.7% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 20,120 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 780 shares during the period. Premier Fund Managers Ltd’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $11,413,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. POM Investment Strategies LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the second quarter worth about $38,000. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. boosted its stake in Meta Platforms by 122.2% in the 2nd quarter. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. now owns 80 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $40,000 after purchasing an additional 44 shares in the last quarter. Halpern Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $46,000. West Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Meta Platforms during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $49,000. Finally, NewSquare Capital LLC raised its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 221.9% in the second quarter. NewSquare Capital LLC now owns 103 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $52,000 after buying an additional 71 shares during the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on META shares. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $652.00 to $641.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 1st. Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on Meta Platforms from $605.00 to $630.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their target price on Meta Platforms from $525.00 to $585.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Loop Capital increased their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $575.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 6th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $575.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, thirty-five have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Meta Platforms currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $634.10.

Meta Platforms Stock Down 0.7 %

Shares of META opened at $559.14 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $572.74 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $523.96. 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 has a market capitalization of $1.41 trillion, a PE ratio of 26.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.22. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 52-week low of $313.66 and a 52-week high of $602.95.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The social networking company reported $6.03 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $40.21 billion. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 22.53 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 26th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 16th were paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 16th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.36%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 9.42%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Meta Platforms

In other news, COO Javier Olivan sold 620 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $557.00, for a total value of $345,340.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 19,992 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,135,544. The trade was a 3.01 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 492 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $600.75, for a total transaction of $295,569.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 518,508 shares of the company’s stock, 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 have sold 168,843 shares of company stock worth $92,083,554 over the last quarter. 13.71% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.