Park Avenue Securities LLC Cuts Position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Park Avenue Securities LLC reduced its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 6.2% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 64,352 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 4,235 shares during the quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $36,837,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in META. Delos Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 527.3% in the first quarter. Delos Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 69 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 58 shares during the period. POM Investment Strategies LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the second quarter valued at about $38,000. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 122.2% during the second quarter. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. now owns 80 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $40,000 after acquiring an additional 44 shares during the last quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 95.6% in the first quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. now owns 88 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $41,000 after acquiring an additional 43 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Kathleen S. Wright Associates Inc. purchased a new position in Meta Platforms in the first quarter valued at about $44,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on META. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $522.00 to $555.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Pivotal Research initiated coverage on Meta Platforms in a research note on Tuesday. They issued a “buy” rating and a $780.00 price target for the company. Guggenheim upped their price objective on Meta Platforms from $500.00 to $600.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Benchmark reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. Finally, Roth Mkm upped their price target on Meta Platforms from $510.00 to $550.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Two research 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 assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $598.08.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

META stock opened at $582.77 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.48 trillion, a PE ratio of 33.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 1.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a current ratio of 2.83 and a quick ratio of 2.83. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $524.47 and a 200 day moving average price of $501.92. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $279.40 and a fifty-two week high of $583.36.

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 company had revenue of $39.07 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $38.26 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $3.23 EPS. Meta Platforms’s revenue was up 22.1% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 21.36 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Meta Platforms

In related news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $578.55, for a total transaction of $523,587.75. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 35,102 shares in the company, valued at $20,308,262.10. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $578.55, for a total value of $523,587.75. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 35,102 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $20,308,262.10. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 16,702 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $530.75, for a total value of $8,864,586.50. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 169,372 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $89,894,189. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 300,228 shares of company stock valued at $158,005,260. 13.71% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.