Winch Advisory Services LLC Sells 58 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Winch Advisory Services LLC lessened its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 7,301 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 58 shares during the period. Meta Platforms comprises about 1.2% of Winch Advisory Services LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 17th biggest holding. Winch Advisory Services LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $4,179,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Delos Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of 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 in the last quarter. POM Investment Strategies LLC bought a new position in Meta Platforms during the second quarter valued at approximately $38,000. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. grew its holdings in Meta Platforms by 122.2% during the 2nd quarter. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. now owns 80 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $40,000 after buying an additional 44 shares in the last quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. increased its stake in Meta Platforms by 95.6% in the 1st quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. now owns 88 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $41,000 after acquiring an additional 43 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Kathleen S. Wright Associates Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the 1st quarter worth approximately $44,000. 79.91% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

META has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Benchmark reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday, July 25th. Pivotal Research assumed coverage on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. They issued a “buy” rating and a $780.00 price objective for the company. Truist Financial upped their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $570.00 to $650.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target on Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $675.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Monness Crespi & Hardt upped their price objective on Meta Platforms from $570.00 to $620.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, September 30th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, thirty-five have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $619.20.

Meta Platforms Stock Down 3.1 %

Meta Platforms stock opened at $563.69 on Thursday. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a twelve month low of $279.40 and a twelve month high of $602.95. The business has a fifty day moving average of $548.79 and a two-hundred day moving average of $509.61. The firm has a market cap of $1.43 trillion, a P/E ratio of 32.38, a P/E/G ratio of 1.45 and a beta of 1.22. The company has a quick ratio of 2.83, a current ratio of 2.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 31st. The social networking company reported $5.16 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.70 by $0.46. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 34.16% and a net margin of 34.34%. The company had revenue of $39.07 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $38.26 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $3.23 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 22.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 21.37 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 26th. Investors of record on Monday, September 16th were paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 16th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.35%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 11.49%.

Insider Activity at Meta Platforms

In other Meta Platforms news, COO Javier Olivan sold 413 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction on Friday, October 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $580.65, for a total value of $239,808.45. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 11,120 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,456,828. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Meta Platforms news, COO Javier Olivan sold 413 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $580.65, for a total value of $239,808.45. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 11,120 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,456,828. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 492 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 approximately $311,493,681. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 249,912 shares of company stock valued at $132,027,612 over the last 90 days. 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.