Meta Platforms, Inc. $META Position Lessened by DAVENPORT & Co LLC

DAVENPORT & Co LLC trimmed its stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 17.5% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 406,860 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 86,115 shares during the period. Meta Platforms accounts for 1.6% of DAVENPORT & Co LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 7th largest position. DAVENPORT & Co LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $299,545,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in META. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.8% in the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 192,591,101 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $142,149,566,000 after buying an additional 1,532,568 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its position in Meta Platforms by 1.9% during the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 86,925,674 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $64,158,971,000 after acquiring an additional 1,650,435 shares during the last quarter. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC lifted its position in Meta Platforms by 608,429.2% during the second quarter. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC now owns 59,775,823 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $44,119,937,000 after acquiring an additional 59,766,000 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Meta Platforms by 1.3% in the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 51,575,209 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $37,902,948,000 after acquiring an additional 682,768 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new position in Meta Platforms in the second quarter worth $23,155,393,000. Institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:META opened at $663.29 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 company has a market cap of $1.67 trillion, a PE ratio of 29.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 1.28. The company’s 50 day moving average is $654.81 and its 200 day moving average is $706.30.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 29th. The social networking company reported $7.25 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 prior year, the firm earned $6.03 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 23rd. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 15th were issued a $0.525 dividend. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 15th. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is presently 9.28%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, COO Javier Olivan sold 517 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $661.11, for a total transaction of $341,793.87. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 12,717 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,407,335.87. This trade represents a 3.91% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Robert M. Kimmitt sold 580 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $646.00, for a total value of $374,680.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 6,167 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,983,882. The trade was a 8.60% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last three months, insiders have sold 42,074 shares of company stock valued at $26,359,548. Company insiders own 13.61% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently commented on the company. Erste Group Bank lowered Meta Platforms from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, November 10th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price target on Meta Platforms from $900.00 to $875.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Roth Capital restated a “buy” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Zacks Research lowered shares of Meta Platforms from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 18th. Finally, Citizens Jmp reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $900.00 target price (up previously from $750.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Monday, November 24th. Four investment 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 company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $820.22.

Meta Platforms Company Profile

Meta Platforms, Inc (NASDAQ: META), formerly Facebook, Inc, is a global technology company best known for building social networking services and immersive computing platforms. Founded in 2004 and headquartered in Menlo Park, California, the company operates a family of consumer-facing products and services that connect users, creators and businesses. In October 2021 the company rebranded as Meta to reflect an expanded strategic focus on augmented and virtual reality technologies alongside its social media businesses.

Meta’s core consumer products include Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp and Messenger, which enable social networking, messaging, content sharing and community building across mobile and desktop devices.