Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) Shares Sold by Hendershot Investments Inc.

Hendershot Investments Inc. decreased its stake in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 16,362 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 136 shares during the period. Meta Platforms comprises approximately 1.3% of Hendershot Investments Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 27th largest position. Hendershot Investments Inc.’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $9,366,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Goldstream Capital Management Ltd increased its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 8.8% during the 3rd quarter. Goldstream Capital Management Ltd now owns 41,648 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $23,841,000 after purchasing an additional 3,370 shares during the period. Glen Eagle Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Meta Platforms by 1.7% during the third quarter. Glen Eagle Advisors LLC now owns 2,910 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $1,666,000 after purchasing an additional 48 shares during the last quarter. iA Global Asset Management Inc. grew its position in Meta Platforms by 28.0% in the third quarter. iA Global Asset Management Inc. now owns 343,367 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $196,557,000 after buying an additional 75,126 shares during the last quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 12.5% during the 3rd quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 200,006 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $114,492,000 after acquiring an additional 22,227 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 5.6% during the third quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC now owns 480,344 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $254,762,000 after purchasing an additional 25,258 shares during the period. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

NASDAQ META opened at $623.77 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a current ratio of 2.73 and a quick ratio of 2.73. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.57 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.38, a PEG ratio of 1.35 and a beta of 1.20. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $578.51 and its 200-day moving average price is $531.05. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1-year low of $317.77 and a 1-year high of $629.79.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The social networking company reported $6.03 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.19 by $0.84. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 35.60% and a net margin of 35.55%. The company had revenue of $40.59 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $40.21 billion. On average, equities analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 22.68 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 27th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 16th will be issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 16th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.32%. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is currently 9.42%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have issued reports on META shares. Bank of America boosted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $630.00 to $660.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $600.00 target price on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday, September 26th. Tigress Financial lifted their price target on Meta Platforms from $575.00 to $645.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $640.00 to $660.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reiterated an “underperform” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Two investment 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 issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $634.71.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Susan J. Li sold 8,951 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $577.16, for a total transaction of $5,166,159.16. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 51,591 shares in the company, valued at $29,776,261.56. This trade represents a 14.78 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $507.63, for a total value of $459,405.15. Following the sale, the insider now owns 37,817 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $19,197,043.71. The trade was a 2.34 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 142,160 shares of company stock worth $81,611,223. 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.