Mizuho Securities USA LLC Lowers Holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Mizuho Securities USA LLC reduced its holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 56.5% in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 73,503 shares of the social networking company's stock after selling 95,467 shares during the period. Mizuho Securities USA LLC's holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $42,076,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. POM Investment Strategies LLC bought a new position in Meta Platforms in the second quarter worth approximately $38,000. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. boosted its stake in Meta Platforms by 122.2% in the 2nd quarter. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. now owns 80 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $40,000 after purchasing an additional 44 shares in the last quarter. Halpern Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in Meta Platforms in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $46,000. West Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the 3rd quarter valued at $49,000. Finally, NewSquare Capital LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 221.9% during the second 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.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

Meta Platforms stock traded up $2.50 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $556.90. The stock had a trading volume of 4,654,286 shares, compared to its average volume of 15,015,419. The company has a quick ratio of 2.73, a current ratio of 2.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18. The stock's 50 day moving average is $569.10 and its two-hundred day moving average is $521.96. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1 year low of $313.66 and a 1 year high of $602.95. The stock has a market cap of $1.41 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.23 and a beta of 1.22.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last released 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. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 35.55% and a return on equity of 35.60%. The company had revenue of $40.59 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $40.21 billion. As a group, analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 22.53 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 26th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 16th were paid a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.36%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 16th. Meta Platforms's dividend payout ratio is presently 9.42%.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 901 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $567.70, for a total value of $511,497.70. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 30,581 shares of the company's stock, valued at $17,360,833.70. This represents a 2.86 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Susan J. Li sold 33,018 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $517.94, for a total value of $17,101,342.92. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 140,593 shares of company stock valued at $75,253,970. Insiders own 13.71% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have issued reports on META shares. KeyCorp boosted their price target on Meta Platforms from $560.00 to $655.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $525.00 to $530.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Wedbush reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $600.00 price objective on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday, September 26th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on Meta Platforms from $590.00 to $663.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, October 14th. Finally, Piper Sandler boosted their target price on Meta Platforms from $575.00 to $650.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, thirty-five have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Meta Platforms currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $634.10.

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.