Gould Capital LLC Lowers Holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Gould Capital LLC lowered its holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 2.2% during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,877 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 64 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms accounts for 1.1% of Gould Capital LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 29th largest holding. Gould Capital LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $1,647,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of the business. FCG Investment Co boosted its stake in Meta Platforms by 6.5% during the second quarter. FCG Investment Co now owns 6,611 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $3,333,000 after buying an additional 401 shares during the period. NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC boosted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.3% during the 2nd quarter. NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC now owns 48,390 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $24,399,000 after purchasing an additional 613 shares during the period. Border to Coast Pensions Partnership Ltd increased its holdings in Meta Platforms by 5.4% in the 2nd quarter. Border to Coast Pensions Partnership Ltd now owns 144,933 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $73,101,000 after purchasing an additional 7,391 shares during the last quarter. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. increased its holdings in Meta Platforms by 173.1% in the 2nd quarter. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. now owns 1,076 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $543,000 after purchasing an additional 682 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Great Valley Advisor Group Inc. raised its position in Meta Platforms by 16.2% in the second quarter. Great Valley Advisor Group Inc. now owns 36,437 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $18,373,000 after purchasing an additional 5,071 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Trading Down 1.6 %

Shares of Meta Platforms stock opened at $613.57 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a quick ratio of 2.73 and a current ratio of 2.73. The company has a market capitalization of $1.55 trillion, a P/E ratio of 28.90, a PEG ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 1.20. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1 year low of $319.99 and a 1 year high of $629.79. The company’s fifty day moving average is $580.47 and its two-hundred day moving average is $534.10.

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. 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%. Analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 22.68 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 27th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 16th will be paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.33%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 16th. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 9.42%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on META. Guggenheim lifted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $665.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, October 7th. DA Davidson started coverage on Meta Platforms in a research report on Tuesday, September 10th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $600.00 target price for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $640.00 to $660.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $650.00 to $670.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday. Finally, Tigress Financial upped their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $575.00 to $645.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 16th. Two 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. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $635.20.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Meta Platforms news, CAO Aaron Anderson sold 731 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $557.00, for a total transaction of $407,167.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 3,414 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,901,598. This represents a 17.64 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 84 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $600.00, for a total transaction of $50,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 518,424 shares in the company, valued at approximately $311,054,400. The trade was a 0.02 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 164,201 shares of company stock valued at $95,420,559 over the last three months. 13.71% of the stock is currently 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.