AlphaMark Advisors LLC Cuts Stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

AlphaMark Advisors LLC cut its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 25.0% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 1,009 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 336 shares during the quarter. AlphaMark Advisors LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $578,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in META. Ellsworth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 13.2% in the third quarter. Ellsworth Advisors LLC now owns 1,629 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $933,000 after buying an additional 190 shares during the period. Drake & Associates LLC grew its position in Meta Platforms by 44.6% during the 3rd quarter. Drake & Associates LLC now owns 2,143 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $1,227,000 after acquiring an additional 661 shares during the last quarter. Trust Co. of Vermont grew its position in Meta Platforms by 3.9% during the 3rd quarter. Trust Co. of Vermont now owns 57,625 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $32,987,000 after acquiring an additional 2,157 shares during the last quarter. Secure Asset Management LLC increased its stake in Meta Platforms by 2.8% in the 3rd quarter. Secure Asset Management LLC now owns 18,366 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $10,513,000 after purchasing an additional 492 shares during the period. Finally, Marshall Financial Group LLC lifted its position in Meta Platforms by 12.6% in the third quarter. Marshall Financial Group LLC now owns 5,478 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $3,136,000 after purchasing an additional 615 shares during the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $589.97, for a total transaction of $533,922.85. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 33,292 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,641,281.24. This 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 can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $589.97, for a total transaction of $533,922.85. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 33,292 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $19,641,281.24. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 84 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $600.00, for a total transaction of $50,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 518,424 shares in the company, valued at $311,054,400. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 250,816 shares of company stock valued at $132,421,828 in the last ninety days. 13.71% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

META has been the topic of several analyst reports. Sanford C. Bernstein lifted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $565.00 to $575.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, July 22nd. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $475.00 to $525.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. JMP Securities raised their target price on Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $635.00 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 26th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on Meta Platforms from $555.00 to $636.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, October 14th. Finally, Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $600.00 price objective on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday, September 26th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, thirty-five have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $617.37.

Meta Platforms Stock Down 0.1 %

META stock opened at $576.47 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a current ratio of 2.83 and a quick ratio of 2.83. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1-year low of $279.40 and a 1-year high of $602.95. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.46 trillion, a P/E ratio of 33.11, a P/E/G ratio of 1.45 and a beta of 1.22. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $546.53 and a 200-day moving average price of $508.68.

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

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The business 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.35%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is presently 11.49%.

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.