Kestra Investment Management LLC Decreases Holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Kestra Investment Management LLC lowered its position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 3.5% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 14,333 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 516 shares during the period. Kestra Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $8,205,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.9% during 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 last quarter. LS Investment Advisors LLC raised its position in Meta Platforms by 111.4% during 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. Gradient Investments LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 8.9% in the second quarter. Gradient Investments LLC now owns 72,587 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $36,600,000 after purchasing an additional 5,953 shares in the last quarter. Cutter & CO Brokerage Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.7% in 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 purchasing an additional 65 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Stanley Laman Group Ltd. grew its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 26.5% in the second 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 during the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

NASDAQ:META opened at $574.32 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $575.21 and a two-hundred day moving average of $527.76. 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 has a market cap of $1.45 trillion, a P/E ratio of 27.05, a PEG ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 1.22. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1-year low of $313.66 and a 1-year high of $602.95.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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 return on equity of 35.60% and a net margin of 35.55%. The firm had revenue of $40.59 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $40.21 billion. On average, research analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 22.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 26th. Investors 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.35%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 9.42%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on META shares. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on Meta Platforms from $652.00 to $641.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 1st. DA Davidson initiated coverage on Meta Platforms in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. They set a “buy” rating and a $600.00 price objective on the stock. Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $600.00 target price on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday, September 26th. KeyCorp raised their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $560.00 to $655.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Finally, Mizuho boosted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $650.00 to $675.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Two 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 assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $634.71.

Insider Activity at Meta Platforms

In related news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $520.00, for a total transaction of $470,600.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 38,722 shares in the company, valued at $20,135,440. This trade represents a 2.28 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Susan J. Li sold 8,951 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $577.16, for a total transaction of $5,166,159.16. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 51,591 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $29,776,261.56. This trade represents a 14.78 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 106,239 shares of company stock valued at $59,681,541 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms 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.