Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) Holdings Lowered by McCarthy Asset Management Inc.

McCarthy Asset Management Inc. trimmed its stake in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 75.7% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 350 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 1,089 shares during the quarter. McCarthy Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $200,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Lindenwold Advisors INC lifted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.3% in the third quarter. Lindenwold Advisors INC now owns 5,918 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $3,388,000 after purchasing an additional 17 shares in the last quarter. Central Valley Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Meta Platforms by 0.3% during the third quarter. Central Valley Advisors LLC now owns 5,714 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $3,271,000 after acquiring an additional 18 shares in the last quarter. Cherrydale Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in Meta Platforms by 0.5% during the third quarter. Cherrydale Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,841 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $2,199,000 after acquiring an additional 18 shares in the last quarter. Alliance Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Meta Platforms by 0.7% during the third quarter. Alliance Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,787 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $1,595,000 after acquiring an additional 18 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Kozak & Associates Inc. raised its holdings in Meta Platforms by 1.0% during the third quarter. Kozak & Associates Inc. now owns 1,906 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $1,099,000 after acquiring an additional 18 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 other Meta Platforms news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 22,946 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $621.84, for a total value of $14,268,740.64. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Christopher K. Cox sold 20,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $557.52, for a total transaction of $11,150,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 338,662 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $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 ninety days, insiders sold 164,201 shares of company stock worth $95,420,559. Company insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently issued reports on the company. Bank of America upped their target price on Meta Platforms from $630.00 to $660.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Tigress Financial upped their target price on Meta Platforms from $575.00 to $645.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 16th. Hsbc Global Res upgraded Meta Platforms to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their price target on Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $675.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Finally, Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on Meta Platforms from $605.00 to $630.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned 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, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $634.71.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

NASDAQ META opened at $613.57 on Tuesday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $580.47 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $534.10. 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, Inc. has a 12-month low of $319.99 and a 12-month high of $629.79. The firm has a market cap of $1.55 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.90, a PEG ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 1.20.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The social networking company reported $6.03 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.19 by $0.84. The company had revenue of $40.59 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $40.21 billion. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 35.55% and a return on equity of 35.60%. On average, equities analysts forecast 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 issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 16th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.33%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is currently 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.