Bard Financial Services Inc. Trims Holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Bard Financial Services Inc. trimmed its position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 2.3% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 9,525 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 220 shares during the quarter. Bard Financial Services Inc.’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $5,452,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. JDM Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in Meta Platforms during the third quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC purchased a new position in Meta Platforms during the third quarter valued at approximately $36,000. POM Investment Strategies LLC purchased a new position in Meta Platforms during the second quarter valued at approximately $38,000. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. raised its position in Meta Platforms by 122.2% during the second quarter. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. now owns 80 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $40,000 after acquiring an additional 44 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Halpern Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in Meta Platforms in the third quarter valued at approximately $46,000. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Meta Platforms Trading Up 0.9 %

NASDAQ:META opened at $619.32 on Wednesday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $581.32 and its 200 day moving average price is $535.09. The company has a market capitalization of $1.56 trillion, a PE ratio of 29.17, a P/E/G ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 1.20. 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 52-week low of $319.99 and a 52-week high of $629.79.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The social networking company reported $6.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $40.21 billion. On average, research analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 22.68 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 27th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 16th will be given a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 16th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.32%. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is 9.42%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have commented on META. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Meta Platforms from $640.00 to $660.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Citigroup raised their price objective on Meta Platforms from $645.00 to $705.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Mizuho raised their price objective on Meta Platforms from $650.00 to $675.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. KeyCorp raised their price objective on Meta Platforms from $560.00 to $655.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on Meta Platforms from $555.00 to $636.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, October 14th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, thirty-five have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $635.20.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Meta Platforms news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 35,921 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $607.97, for a total transaction of $21,838,890.37. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the insider now directly owns 36,912 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $19,848,320.64. The trade was a 2.39 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 164,201 shares of company stock valued at $95,420,559. 13.71% of the stock is 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.