McCarthy Asset Management Inc. Sells 1,089 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

McCarthy Asset Management Inc. cut its stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 75.7% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 350 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 1,089 shares during the period. McCarthy Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $200,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in Meta Platforms by 0.9% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 13,827,565 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $7,915,451,000 after buying an additional 118,298 shares during the period. LS Investment Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 111.4% during the 3rd quarter. LS Investment Advisors LLC now owns 11,679 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $6,686,000 after buying an additional 6,155 shares in the last quarter. Gradient Investments LLC lifted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 8.9% during the 2nd quarter. Gradient Investments LLC now owns 72,587 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $36,600,000 after buying an additional 5,953 shares in the last quarter. Cutter & CO Brokerage Inc. lifted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 0.7% in the 3rd quarter. Cutter & CO Brokerage Inc. now owns 9,735 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $5,573,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Stanley Laman Group Ltd. lifted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 26.5% in the 2nd quarter. Stanley Laman Group Ltd. now owns 1,678 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $846,000 after purchasing an additional 352 shares in the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Meta Platforms

In related news, COO Javier Olivan sold 413 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $520.57, for a total transaction of $214,995.41. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 13,185 shares in the company, valued at $6,863,715.45. The trade was a 3.04 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $537.72, for a total value of $486,636.60. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 36,912 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $19,848,320.64. This trade represents a 2.39 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 164,201 shares of company stock worth $95,420,559. 13.71% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

NASDAQ META opened at $613.57 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.55 trillion, a P/E ratio of 28.90, a P/E/G ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 1.20. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1-year low of $319.99 and a 1-year high of $629.79. 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 business’s 50-day simple moving average is $580.47 and its 200-day simple moving average is $534.10.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The social networking company reported $6.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 the consensus estimate of $40.21 billion. Equities analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 22.68 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 27th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 16th will be given a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 16th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.33%. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is 9.42%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently commented on the company. Rosenblatt Securities reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $811.00 price target on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Roth Mkm raised their price objective on Meta Platforms from $620.00 to $635.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Mizuho raised their price objective on Meta Platforms from $650.00 to $675.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Hsbc Global Res raised Meta Platforms to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, KeyCorp lifted their target price on Meta Platforms from $560.00 to $655.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. 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 issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $634.71.

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.