Cypress Wealth Services LLC Raises Position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Cypress Wealth Services LLC lifted its position in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 3.9% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 4,293 shares of the social networking company’s stock after purchasing an additional 163 shares during the period. Cypress Wealth Services LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $2,458,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of META. Delos Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in Meta Platforms by 527.3% during the 1st quarter. Delos Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 69 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 58 shares in the last quarter. POM Investment Strategies LLC acquired a new stake in Meta Platforms during the 2nd quarter worth $38,000. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. raised its stake in Meta Platforms by 122.2% during the 2nd 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 in the last quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. increased its stake in Meta Platforms by 95.6% in the first quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. now owns 88 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $41,000 after purchasing an additional 43 shares during the period. Finally, Kathleen S. Wright Associates Inc. acquired a new position in Meta Platforms in the first quarter valued at $44,000. 79.91% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Meta Platforms Stock Down 0.3 %

Shares of META stock traded down $1.83 on Thursday, hitting $588.68. The stock had a trading volume of 1,018,717 shares, compared to its average volume of 15,362,240. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.49 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.92, a P/E/G ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 1.22. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $534.36 and its 200-day moving average is $504.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a quick ratio of 2.83 and a current ratio of 2.83. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 52-week low of $279.40 and a 52-week high of $602.95.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The social networking company reported $5.16 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.70 by $0.46. The business 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 business’s quarterly revenue was up 22.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $3.23 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 21.36 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 26th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 16th were paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. 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 (DPR) is 11.49%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Meta Platforms

In other Meta Platforms news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 in the company, valued at $18,068,669.70. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other Meta Platforms news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 in the company, valued at $18,068,669.70. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 492 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $600.75, for a total transaction of $295,569.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 518,508 shares in the company, valued at approximately $311,493,681. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 266,412 shares of company stock worth $140,058,708 in the last ninety days. 13.71% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have commented on the stock. Monness Crespi & Hardt lifted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $570.00 to $620.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, September 30th. Benchmark reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. Oppenheimer boosted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $525.00 to $615.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Pivotal Research started coverage on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. They set a “buy” rating and a $780.00 price target on the stock. Finally, TD Securities boosted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $530.00 to $600.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 10th. 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 given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Meta Platforms presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $608.58.

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.