Saturna Capital Corp Sells 1,955 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Saturna Capital Corp cut its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 35.8% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 3,505 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 1,955 shares during the period. Saturna Capital Corp’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $2,006,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 57,001.5% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 9,517,111 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $5,447,975,000 after acquiring an additional 9,500,444 shares in the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors grew its position in Meta Platforms by 14.5% in the 1st quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 34,597,001 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $16,799,612,000 after purchasing an additional 4,379,826 shares in the last quarter. Sustainable Growth Advisers LP purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms in the 2nd quarter valued at about $595,152,000. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.4% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 187,180,393 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $90,891,055,000 after buying an additional 831,047 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board boosted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 30.0% in the 1st quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 3,411,009 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $1,656,318,000 after buying an additional 788,131 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Stock Down 4.0 %

Shares of NASDAQ:META opened at $554.08 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.40 trillion, a PE ratio of 26.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a quick ratio of 2.73 and a current ratio of 2.73. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 52-week low of $313.66 and a 52-week high of $602.95. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $568.11 and a 200 day moving average of $520.60.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The social networking company reported $6.03 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.19 by $0.84. The firm had revenue of $40.59 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $40.21 billion. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 35.60% and a net margin of 35.55%. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 22.53 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 492 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $600.75, for a total transaction of $295,569.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 518,508 shares in the company, valued at $311,493,681. This trade represents a 0.09 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $507.63, for a total value of $459,405.15. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 37,817 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $19,197,043.71. The trade was a 2.34 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 158,200 shares of company stock worth $84,533,106 in the last 90 days. 13.71% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

META has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on Meta Platforms from $590.00 to $663.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, October 14th. Guggenheim lifted their target price on Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $665.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, October 7th. Robert W. Baird increased their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $605.00 to $630.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Truist Financial lifted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $570.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, Roth Mkm increased their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $620.00 to $635.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, thirty-five have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $634.10.

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.