Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) Shares Sold by Ceera Investments LLC

Ceera Investments LLC reduced its stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 2.8% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 24,484 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 705 shares during the period. Meta Platforms comprises approximately 5.3% of Ceera Investments LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 2nd largest position. Ceera Investments LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $14,016,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. WIM INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Ltd bought a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the 3rd quarter valued at $1,488,000. Concord Asset Management LLC VA raised its position in Meta Platforms by 13.9% in the third quarter. Concord Asset Management LLC VA now owns 13,508 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $7,733,000 after purchasing an additional 1,653 shares during the last quarter. Peterson Financial Group Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the third quarter valued at about $70,000. Tower Bridge Advisors grew its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 2.1% during the third quarter. Tower Bridge Advisors now owns 17,839 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $10,212,000 after purchasing an additional 361 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Adero Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 3.0% in the third quarter. Adero Partners LLC now owns 17,517 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $10,027,000 after buying an additional 503 shares during the period. 79.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Meta Platforms Trading Up 1.2 %

Shares of Meta Platforms stock opened at $561.09 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $1.42 trillion, a P/E ratio of 26.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.23 and a beta of 1.22. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $570.23 and a 200 day simple moving average of $522.73. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12-month low of $313.66 and a 12-month high of $602.95. The company has a current ratio of 2.73, a quick ratio of 2.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last posted its earnings results 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 net margin of 35.55% and a return on equity of 35.60%. The firm had revenue of $40.59 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $40.21 billion. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 22.53 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

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

Insider Transactions at Meta Platforms

In other Meta Platforms news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $507.63, for a total value of $459,405.15. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 37,817 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $19,197,043.71. The trade was a 2.34 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO Susan J. Li sold 33,018 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $517.94, for a total value of $17,101,342.92. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 185,958 shares of company stock worth $101,181,747 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Benchmark reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday, July 25th. Needham & Company LLC reissued an “underperform” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on Meta Platforms from $590.00 to $663.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, October 14th. Pivotal Research upped their price target on Meta Platforms from $780.00 to $800.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on Meta Platforms from $525.00 to $530.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” 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 issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $634.10.

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.