Meta Platforms, Inc. $META Shares Sold by Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C.

Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. lowered its stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 5.8% during the second quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 2,008,535 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 123,500 shares during the period. Meta Platforms makes up about 2.5% of Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C.’s holdings, making the stock its 5th biggest holding. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C.’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $1,482,480,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in META. Bare Financial Services Inc bought a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the 2nd quarter valued at about $30,000. Evergreen Private Wealth LLC grew its holdings in Meta Platforms by 237.5% during the second quarter. Evergreen Private Wealth LLC now owns 54 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $40,000 after purchasing an additional 38 shares during the period. Briaud Financial Planning Inc bought a new stake in Meta Platforms in the second quarter valued at approximately $42,000. Knuff & Co LLC acquired a new stake in Meta Platforms in the second quarter worth $44,000. Finally, WFA Asset Management Corp boosted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 42.6% during the second quarter. WFA Asset Management Corp now owns 67 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $49,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Meta Platforms Trading Down 1.3%

Meta Platforms stock opened at $644.23 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $1.62 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.46, a P/E/G ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 1.28. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $665.92 and a 200-day moving average of $706.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a current ratio of 1.98 and a quick ratio of 1.98. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a one year low of $479.80 and a one year high of $796.25.

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

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 23rd. Investors of record on Monday, December 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.525 per share. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 15th. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is presently 9.28%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

META has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Citigroup restated a “buy” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday, December 4th. Raymond James Financial reiterated a “strong-buy” rating and set a $825.00 price objective (down previously from $900.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Rosenblatt Securities reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $1,117.00 price objective on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Friday, December 5th. Citizens Jmp restated an “outperform” rating and set a $900.00 target price (up from $750.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Monday, November 24th. Finally, Mizuho reduced their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $925.00 to $815.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-nine have issued a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $819.46.

Insider Activity

In other news, COO Javier Olivan sold 517 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $669.63, for a total value of $346,198.71. Following the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 13,751 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,208,082.13. This represents a 3.62% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CAO Aaron Anderson sold 726 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 $3,570,306. This trade represents a 10.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last three months, insiders sold 41,959 shares of company stock valued at $26,578,191. 13.61% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.