Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) Shares Sold by Mizuho Securities USA LLC

Mizuho Securities USA LLC reduced its position in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 56.5% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 73,503 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 95,467 shares during the quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $42,076,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. TSA Wealth Managment LLC raised its holdings in Meta Platforms by 15.3% in the 3rd quarter. TSA Wealth Managment LLC now owns 702 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $402,000 after acquiring an additional 93 shares during the last quarter. Nicollet Investment Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.1% in the third quarter. Nicollet Investment Management Inc. now owns 23,467 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $13,433,000 after purchasing an additional 254 shares during the period. Seelaus Asset Management LLC grew its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 47.6% in the third quarter. Seelaus Asset Management LLC now owns 1,625 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $930,000 after purchasing an additional 524 shares during the period. Coastline Trust Co increased its stake in Meta Platforms by 10.2% in the third quarter. Coastline Trust Co now owns 37,896 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $21,693,000 after purchasing an additional 3,501 shares during the last quarter. Finally, First Long Island Investors LLC lifted its position in Meta Platforms by 10.3% during the third quarter. First Long Island Investors LLC now owns 35,694 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $20,433,000 after buying an additional 3,342 shares during the period. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

META has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Oppenheimer lifted their price target on Meta Platforms from $525.00 to $615.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $675.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Robert W. Baird increased their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $605.00 to $630.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Truist Financial boosted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $570.00 to $650.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, Mizuho increased their target price on Meta Platforms from $650.00 to $675.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, thirty-five have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $634.10.

Meta Platforms Stock Up 0.1 %

Shares of NASDAQ:META opened at $554.40 on Tuesday. The company’s fifty day moving average is $569.10 and its two-hundred day moving average is $521.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a quick ratio of 2.73 and a current ratio of 2.73. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1-year low of $313.66 and a 1-year high of $602.95. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.40 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.23 and a beta of 1.22.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last released its quarterly earnings data 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. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 35.55% and a return on equity of 35.60%. The firm had revenue of $40.59 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $40.21 billion. Equities analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 22.53 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 given a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 16th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.36%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is currently 9.42%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $589.97, for a total transaction of $533,922.85. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 33,292 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,641,281.24. The trade was a 2.65 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 16,702 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $531.46, for a total value of $8,876,444.92. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 11,384 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,050,140.64. This represents a 59.47 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 140,593 shares of company stock worth $75,253,970 in the last three months. 13.71% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Meta Platforms 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.