Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) Shares Sold by Opinicus Capital Inc.

Opinicus Capital Inc. decreased its position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 4.3% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,439 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 109 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms accounts for about 1.1% of Opinicus Capital Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 27th largest holding. Opinicus Capital Inc.’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $1,396,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Delos Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake 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 worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 58 shares during the last quarter. POM Investment Strategies LLC acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the 2nd quarter valued at $38,000. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 122.2% in 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 period. Halpern Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in Meta Platforms during the 3rd quarter worth about $46,000. Finally, J.Safra Asset Management Corp acquired a new stake in Meta Platforms during the 1st quarter worth about $47,000. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $575.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Citigroup boosted their target price on Meta Platforms from $645.00 to $705.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Scotiabank lowered their price target on Meta Platforms from $585.00 to $583.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $570.00 price objective on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, 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 report on Friday, August 16th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, thirty-five have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Meta Platforms currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $634.10.

Meta Platforms Trading Down 0.5 %

NASDAQ META opened at $577.16 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $1.46 trillion, a P/E ratio of 27.19, a PEG ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 1.22. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $565.83 and its 200-day simple moving average is $518.72. The company has a current ratio of 2.73, a quick ratio of 2.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 52 week low of $313.66 and a 52 week high of $602.95.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last announced its 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $40.21 billion. Equities research analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 22.53 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The company 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 is currently 9.42%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Meta Platforms

In related news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 16,702 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $526.94, for a total value of $8,800,951.88. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 46,292 shares in the company, valued at $24,393,106.48. This trade represents a 26.51 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $507.63, for a total value of $459,405.15. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 37,817 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $19,197,043.71. The trade was a 2.34 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 158,200 shares of company stock worth $84,533,106 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Company 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.