Rockingstone Advisors LLC Sells 180 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Rockingstone Advisors LLC lessened its stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 2.5% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 7,049 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 180 shares during the period. Meta Platforms comprises about 2.0% of Rockingstone Advisors LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 17th biggest position. Rockingstone Advisors LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $4,035,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in META. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Meta Platforms by 0.4% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 187,180,393 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $90,891,055,000 after purchasing an additional 831,047 shares during the period. Capital World Investors raised its stake in Meta Platforms by 0.6% during the 1st quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 38,299,316 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $18,597,382,000 after buying an additional 244,803 shares during the period. Capital Research Global Investors boosted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 14.5% in the first quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 34,597,001 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $16,799,612,000 after acquiring an additional 4,379,826 shares in the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC grew its stake in Meta Platforms by 24.7% in the first quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 13,867,398 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $6,733,731,000 after acquiring an additional 2,748,620 shares during the period. Finally, GQG Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 3.1% during the first quarter. GQG Partners LLC now owns 11,497,335 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $5,582,876,000 after purchasing an additional 342,742 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Meta Platforms

In related news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $501.42, for a total transaction of $453,785.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 36,035 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,068,669.70. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other Meta Platforms news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 14,874 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, July 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $503.38, for a total value of $7,487,274.12. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 135,442 shares in the company, valued at $68,178,793.96. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $501.42, for a total transaction of $453,785.10. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 36,035 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $18,068,669.70. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 266,332 shares of company stock valued at $139,981,833 over the last quarter. 13.71% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

META has been the subject of several analyst reports. Rosenblatt Securities increased their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $643.00 to $811.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 26th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $570.00 price objective on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $565.00 to $600.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Bank of America increased their price target on Meta Platforms from $563.00 to $630.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 26th. Finally, Benchmark reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, thirty-five have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $601.08.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ META opened at $592.89 on Wednesday. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12-month low of $279.40 and a 12-month high of $602.95. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.50 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 1.22. The company has a current ratio of 2.83, a quick ratio of 2.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $532.05 and a 200 day moving average of $503.76.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 31st. The social networking company reported $5.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.70 by $0.46. The firm had revenue of $39.07 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $38.26 billion. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 34.34% and a return on equity of 34.16%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 22.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $3.23 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 21.36 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 26th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 16th were given a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.34%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 16th. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is 11.49%.

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.