Nations Financial Group Inc. IA ADV Sells 351 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Nations Financial Group Inc. IA ADV trimmed its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 1.9% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 18,412 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 351 shares during the period. Meta Platforms comprises about 0.8% of Nations Financial Group Inc. IA ADV’s portfolio, making the stock its 23rd largest position. Nations Financial Group Inc. IA ADV’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $10,540,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in META. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its holdings in Meta Platforms by 48.8% during the 1st quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 49,191 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $23,886,000 after acquiring an additional 16,138 shares in the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC lifted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 22.4% during the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 67,195 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $32,629,000 after buying an additional 12,301 shares during the last quarter. Cypress Asset Management Inc. TX lifted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 541.8% during the first quarter. Cypress Asset Management Inc. TX now owns 3,819 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $1,862,000 after buying an additional 3,224 shares during the last quarter. Bell Investment Advisors Inc lifted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 2.4% during the first quarter. Bell Investment Advisors Inc now owns 1,345 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $653,000 after buying an additional 31 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Constellation Investimentos e Participacoes Ltda purchased a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the first quarter valued at about $631,000. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Meta Platforms news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $528.38, for a total transaction of $478,183.90. Following the sale, the insider now owns 40,532 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $21,416,298.16. The trade was a 2.18 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 16,702 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $533.24, for a total transaction of $8,906,174.48. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 28,838 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,377,575.12. This trade represents a 36.68 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 158,200 shares of company stock valued at $84,533,106 in the last 90 days. 13.71% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

Meta Platforms stock opened at $577.16 on Friday. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $565.83 and its 200 day moving average price is $518.72. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1 year low of $313.66 and a 1 year high of $602.95. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.46 trillion, a P/E ratio of 27.19, a P/E/G ratio of 1.29 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) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The social networking company reported $6.03 earnings per share (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 firm had revenue of $40.59 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $40.21 billion. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 22.53 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 26th. Shareholders 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 yield of 0.35%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 9.42%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have commented on META. Roth Mkm increased their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $620.00 to $635.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $640.00 to $660.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Monness Crespi & Hardt increased their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $620.00 to $660.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $555.00 to $636.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, October 14th. Finally, TD Cowen increased their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $675.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Two 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Meta Platforms presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average 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.