Braun Stacey Associates Inc. Sells 17,296 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Braun Stacey Associates Inc. reduced its holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 11.8% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 128,795 shares of the social networking company's stock after selling 17,296 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms makes up 2.8% of Braun Stacey Associates Inc.'s portfolio, making the stock its 5th biggest position. Braun Stacey Associates Inc.'s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $73,727,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. POM Investment Strategies LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the second quarter worth $38,000. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 122.2% during the second 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 period. Halpern Financial Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the third quarter worth $46,000. West Financial Advisors LLC bought a new position in Meta Platforms in the third quarter valued at approximately $49,000. Finally, NewSquare Capital LLC increased its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 221.9% during 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 last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

NASDAQ META traded down $6.40 during trading on Thursday, reaching $559.12. The company's stock had a trading volume of 5,739,080 shares, compared to its average volume of 14,971,226. The business's fifty day moving average price is $571.30 and its 200-day moving average price is $523.03. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a twelve month low of $313.66 and a twelve month high of $602.95. The firm has a market cap of $1.41 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.92, a P/E/G ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.22. 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 (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The social networking company reported $6.03 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $5.19 by $0.84. The business had revenue of $40.59 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $40.21 billion. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 35.60% and a net margin of 35.55%. As a group, analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 22.53 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.36%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 16th. Meta Platforms's payout ratio is 9.42%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an "overweight" rating and set a $670.00 price objective on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Bank of America raised their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $630.00 to $660.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Tigress Financial raised their target price on Meta Platforms from $575.00 to $645.00 and gave the stock a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Friday, August 16th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $570.00 target price on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, Mizuho increased their price objective on Meta Platforms from $650.00 to $675.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a 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 assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $634.10.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 492 shares of the 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 518,508 shares in the company, valued at $311,493,681. This represents a 0.09 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Aaron Anderson sold 731 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $557.00, for a total transaction of $407,167.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 3,414 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,901,598. This represents a 17.64 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 185,958 shares of company stock worth $101,181,747 in the last three months. 13.71% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.