Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) Shares Sold by Linscomb Wealth Inc.

Linscomb Wealth Inc. trimmed its holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 5.4% in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 19,142 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 1,087 shares during the period. Linscomb Wealth Inc.’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $10,957,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its position in Meta Platforms by 57,001.5% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 9,517,111 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $5,447,975,000 after purchasing an additional 9,500,444 shares during the period. Capital Research Global Investors lifted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 14.5% in the 1st quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 34,597,001 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $16,799,612,000 after buying an additional 4,379,826 shares during the period. Sustainable Growth Advisers LP purchased a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the second quarter valued at approximately $595,152,000. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board grew its holdings in Meta Platforms by 30.0% during the first quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 3,411,009 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $1,656,318,000 after acquiring an additional 788,131 shares during the period. Finally, Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund raised its position in Meta Platforms by 926.6% in the second quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund now owns 733,358 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $369,774,000 after acquiring an additional 661,923 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

META has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $675.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Citigroup upped their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $645.00 to $705.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on Meta Platforms from $525.00 to $530.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Truist Financial upped their price target on Meta Platforms from $570.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $590.00 to $663.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, October 14th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, thirty-five have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Meta Platforms has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $634.10.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

NASDAQ:META opened at $554.40 on Tuesday. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a twelve month low of $313.66 and a twelve month high of $602.95. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.40 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.11, a PEG ratio of 1.23 and a beta of 1.22. The company has a current ratio of 2.73, a quick ratio of 2.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $569.10 and its 200 day simple moving average is $521.96.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The social networking company reported $6.03 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.19 by $0.84. The company had revenue of $40.59 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $40.21 billion. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 35.60% and a net margin of 35.55%. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 22.53 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.36%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 16th. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 9.42%.

Insider Transactions at Meta Platforms

In related news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 492 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction on Monday, October 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $600.75, for a total transaction of $295,569.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 518,508 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $311,493,681. The trade was a 0.09 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 901 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $567.70, for a total transaction of $511,497.70. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 30,581 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $17,360,833.70. The trade was a 2.86 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 140,593 shares of company stock valued at $75,253,970. Corporate insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

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.