Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) Shares Sold by Davis Rea LTD.

Davis Rea LTD. lessened its position in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 12.4% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 36,138 shares of the social networking company's stock after selling 5,094 shares during the period. Meta Platforms comprises 9.0% of Davis Rea LTD.'s holdings, making the stock its 2nd largest position. Davis Rea LTD.'s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $20,687,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Delos Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in Meta Platforms by 527.3% in the 1st quarter. Delos Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 69 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 58 shares during the last quarter. POM Investment Strategies LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the second quarter valued at about $38,000. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. boosted 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. Halpern Financial Inc. acquired a new position in Meta Platforms during the third quarter valued at approximately $46,000. Finally, West Financial Advisors LLC bought a new position in Meta Platforms in the third quarter valued at approximately $49,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.91% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on META shares. Sanford C. Bernstein increased their price objective on Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $675.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, October 25th. DA Davidson began coverage on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $600.00 price target for the company. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $590.00 to $663.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, October 14th. KeyCorp upped their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $560.00 to $655.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Finally, Mizuho lifted their price target on Meta Platforms from $650.00 to $675.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday. Two 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 issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $634.10.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

NASDAQ:META traded down $0.42 on Friday, hitting $567.16. The company had a trading volume of 15,303,235 shares, compared to its average volume of 11,627,171. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 52 week low of $308.33 and a 52 week high of $602.95. The company has a current ratio of 2.73, a quick ratio of 2.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.43 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.72, a PEG ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 1.22. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $555.99 and a two-hundred day moving average of $513.25.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The social networking company reported $6.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $5.19 by $0.84. The business had revenue of $40.59 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $40.21 billion. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 35.60% and a net margin of 35.55%. On average, research analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 21.84 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 26th. Investors of record on Monday, September 16th were issued a $0.50 dividend. 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 0.35%. Meta Platforms's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 9.42%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 420 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $600.17, for a total transaction of $252,071.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 518,004 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $310,890,460.68. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Meta Platforms news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 420 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $600.17, for a total value of $252,071.40. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 518,004 shares in the company, valued at approximately $310,890,460.68. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 901 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $451.15, for a total value of $406,486.15. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 33,324 shares of the company's stock, valued at $15,034,122.60. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 251,993 shares of company stock worth $133,271,982 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 13.71% of the company's stock.

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.