Bamco Inc. NY Reduces Holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

Bamco Inc. NY reduced its position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 2.9% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 273,059 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 8,054 shares during the period. Bamco Inc. NY’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $201,542,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Infusive Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 10.7% in the 1st quarter. Infusive Asset Management Inc. now owns 23,620 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $13,614,000 after purchasing an additional 2,285 shares in the last quarter. Spirepoint Private Client LLC grew its position in Meta Platforms by 2.7% during the second quarter. Spirepoint Private Client LLC now owns 4,080 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $3,011,000 after buying an additional 109 shares during the period. Diversify Advisory Services LLC increased its holdings in Meta Platforms by 10.4% in the second quarter. Diversify Advisory Services LLC now owns 55,431 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $43,790,000 after buying an additional 5,224 shares in the last quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 11.0% during the 2nd quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 210,526 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $155,387,000 after acquiring an additional 20,912 shares in the last quarter. Finally, CW Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 27.8% in the 2nd quarter. CW Advisors LLC now owns 176,762 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $130,467,000 after acquiring an additional 38,432 shares during the period. 79.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

META has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on Meta Platforms from $820.00 to $750.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday. Oppenheimer downgraded shares of Meta Platforms from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Monness Crespi & Hardt dropped their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $860.00 to $808.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Cantor Fitzgerald lowered their target price on Meta Platforms from $830.00 to $720.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, November 19th. Finally, TD Cowen cut their price target on Meta Platforms from $875.00 to $810.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-nine have given a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $819.46.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 11,690 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $593.31, for a total transaction of $6,935,793.90. Following the sale, the chief technology officer owned 2,415 shares in the company, valued at $1,432,843.65. The trade was a 82.88% 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. Also, CAO Aaron Anderson sold 726 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $591.60, for a total transaction of $429,501.60. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 6,035 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,570,306. This trade represents a 10.74% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 41,959 shares of company stock worth $26,578,191 in the last quarter. 13.61% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ META opened at $644.23 on Friday. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a twelve month low of $479.80 and a twelve month high of $796.25. The company has a current ratio of 1.98, a quick ratio of 1.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $665.92 and a two-hundred day moving average of $706.78. The company has a market capitalization of $1.62 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.46, a PEG ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 1.28.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The social networking company reported $7.25 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.74 by $0.51. The business had revenue of $51.24 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $49.34 billion. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 30.89% and a return on equity of 39.35%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 26.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $6.03 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 23rd. Investors of record on Monday, December 15th will be paid a $0.525 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 15th. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.3%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 9.28%.

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.