Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) is Epoch Investment Partners Inc.’s 3rd Largest Position

Epoch Investment Partners Inc. reduced its stake in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 2.1% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 951,428 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 20,447 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms accounts for approximately 2.2% of Epoch Investment Partners Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 3rd largest holding. Epoch Investment Partners Inc.’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $479,729,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vantage Financial Partners LLC boosted its position in Meta Platforms by 3.2% in the 4th quarter. Vantage Financial Partners LLC now owns 1,323 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $468,000 after buying an additional 41 shares during the last quarter. Concentrum Wealth Management lifted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 111.0% in the fourth quarter. Concentrum Wealth Management now owns 7,391,877 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $2,616,000 after acquiring an additional 3,888,308 shares in the last quarter. Aveo Capital Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 45.7% in the fourth quarter. Aveo Capital Partners LLC now owns 2,302 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $815,000 after purchasing an additional 722 shares during the last quarter. 9258 Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in Meta Platforms by 66.4% during the 4th quarter. 9258 Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,993 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $1,413,000 after purchasing an additional 1,594 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Rollins Financial increased its holdings in Meta Platforms by 7.5% during the 4th quarter. Rollins Financial now owns 30,657 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $10,851,000 after purchasing an additional 2,133 shares during the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Christopher K. Cox sold 20,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $557.52, for a total transaction of $11,150,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 338,662 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $188,810,838.24. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 16,702 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $510.88, for a total value of $8,532,717.76. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 230,461 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $117,737,915.68. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Christopher K. Cox sold 20,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $557.52, for a total transaction of $11,150,400.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 338,662 shares in the company, valued at approximately $188,810,838.24. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 365,761 shares of company stock worth $190,846,038. 13.71% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ META opened at $564.41 on Tuesday. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1 year low of $279.40 and a 1 year high of $573.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a quick ratio of 2.83 and a current ratio of 2.83. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $507.58 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $497.28. The firm has a market cap of $1.43 trillion, a P/E ratio of 32.42, a PEG ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 1.21.

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

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 26th. Investors of record on Monday, September 16th will be issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.35%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 16th. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is 11.49%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

META has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $570.00 target price on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $630.00 to $635.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $575.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Piper Sandler upped their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $545.00 to $575.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, Citigroup lifted their price target on Meta Platforms from $580.00 to $645.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, thirty-four have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $578.92.

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.