SWS Partners Sells 461 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

SWS Partners decreased its stake in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 9.9% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 4,175 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 461 shares during the period. SWS Partners’ holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $2,390,000 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. Delos Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in Meta Platforms by 527.3% during 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 last quarter. POM Investment Strategies LLC bought a new position in Meta Platforms during the second quarter valued at $38,000. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. lifted its position in Meta Platforms by 122.2% during the second quarter. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. now owns 80 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $40,000 after purchasing an additional 44 shares during the last quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. lifted its position in Meta Platforms by 95.6% during 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 last quarter. Finally, Kathleen S. Wright Associates Inc. bought a new position in Meta Platforms during the first quarter valued at $44,000. Institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

META stock traded down $4.37 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $586.05. The company had a trading volume of 6,189,414 shares, compared to its average volume of 15,280,146. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $540.41 and a 200-day simple moving average of $506.41. The company has a market cap of $1.49 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.45 and a beta of 1.22. 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 twelve month low of $279.40 and a twelve month high of $602.95.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The social networking company reported $5.16 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 period last year, the business earned $3.23 EPS. Meta Platforms’s revenue for the quarter was up 22.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 21.37 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on META. Roth Mkm increased their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $620.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday. Evercore ISI increased their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $600.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $660.00 target price on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Monday, October 7th. Rosenblatt Securities increased their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $643.00 to $811.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 26th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $555.00 to $636.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, thirty-five have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $613.46.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Meta Platforms news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $589.89, for a total transaction of $533,850.45. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 34,197 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $20,172,468.33. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 492 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 518,508 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $311,493,681. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $589.89, for a total transaction of $533,850.45. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 34,197 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $20,172,468.33. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 249,826 shares of company stock valued at $131,791,613. 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.