Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) Stock Position Cut by Covey Capital Advisors LLC

Covey Capital Advisors LLC cut its stake in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 0.4% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 7,120 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 29 shares during the period. Meta Platforms comprises approximately 4.5% of Covey Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 9th largest position. Covey Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $4,076,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. POM Investment Strategies LLC bought a new stake in Meta Platforms during the second quarter valued at approximately $38,000. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of 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 during the last quarter. Halpern Financial Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the 3rd quarter valued at $46,000. West Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the 3rd quarter worth $49,000. Finally, NewSquare Capital LLC raised its holdings in Meta Platforms by 221.9% in the 2nd quarter. NewSquare Capital LLC now owns 103 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $52,000 after purchasing an additional 71 shares during the period. 79.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Christopher K. Cox sold 20,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $557.52, for a total value of $11,150,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 338,662 shares in the company, valued at approximately $188,810,838.24. The trade was a 5.58 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $520.00, for a total transaction of $470,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 38,722 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,135,440. The trade was a 2.28 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 106,239 shares of company stock valued at $59,681,541 over the last three months. 13.71% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have issued reports on the company. Barclays boosted their price target on Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $630.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $675.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th. KeyCorp raised their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $560.00 to $655.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $640.00 to $660.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, DA Davidson started coverage on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Tuesday, September 10th. They set a “buy” rating and a $600.00 price objective on the stock. Two 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 given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $634.71.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:META opened at $574.32 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a quick ratio of 2.73 and a current ratio of 2.73. The firm has a market cap of $1.45 trillion, a PE ratio of 27.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.25 and a beta of 1.22. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $575.21 and its 200-day simple moving average is $527.37. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a one year low of $313.66 and a one year high of $602.95.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The social networking company reported $6.03 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.19 by $0.84. The company had revenue of $40.59 billion for 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 analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 22.62 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The company 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 of this dividend was Monday, September 16th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.35%. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is currently 9.42%.

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.