Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) Holdings Cut by Callahan Advisors LLC

Callahan Advisors LLC lowered its stake in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 4.1% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 112,415 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 4,851 shares during the period. Meta Platforms accounts for about 6.3% of Callahan Advisors LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its biggest holding. Callahan Advisors LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $64,351,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Delos Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in 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 acquiring an additional 58 shares during the last quarter. POM Investment Strategies LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the 2nd quarter valued at $38,000. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 44 shares during the last quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. boosted its position in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 43 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Halpern Financial Inc. purchased a new position in Meta Platforms during the 3rd quarter worth $46,000. Institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 492 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $600.75, for a total value of $295,569.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 518,508 shares in the company, valued at $311,493,681. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $532.21, for a total value of $481,650.05. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 41,437 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $22,053,185.77. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 492 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 518,508 shares in the company, valued at approximately $311,493,681. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 228,118 shares of company stock valued at $121,237,935 in the last ninety days. 13.71% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have commented on META. Tigress Financial increased their price target on Meta Platforms from $575.00 to $645.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 16th. Pivotal Research increased their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $780.00 to $800.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $670.00 target price on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $525.00 to $585.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $570.00 price objective on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. 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 MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $634.10.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

Shares of Meta Platforms stock opened at $589.34 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 business has a 50 day simple moving average of $560.42 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $515.25. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.49 trillion, a P/E ratio of 27.76, a PEG ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.22. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12 month low of $313.66 and a 12 month high of $602.95.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The social networking company reported $6.03 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 analyst estimates of $40.21 billion. As a group, analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 22.53 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 26th. Shareholders 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 0.34%. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is 9.42%.

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.