Optas LLC Sells 11,784 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

Optas LLC lessened its stake in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 53.3% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 10,322 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 11,784 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms comprises approximately 1.3% of Optas LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 15th largest position. Optas LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $7,580,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

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

Insider Activity at Meta Platforms

In other Meta Platforms news, Director Robert M. Kimmitt sold 580 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $646.00, for a total transaction of $374,680.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 6,167 shares in the company, valued at $3,983,882. This trade represents a 8.60% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 519 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $659.38, for a total value of $342,218.22. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 29,177 shares in the company, valued at $19,238,730.26. The trade was a 1.75% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 42,074 shares of company stock valued at $26,359,548 over the last quarter. 13.61% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

META opened at $663.29 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $654.81 and its 200-day simple moving average is $706.30. 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 stock has a market cap of $1.67 trillion, a PE ratio of 29.30, a P/E/G ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 1.28. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1 year low of $479.80 and a 1 year high of $796.25.

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

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Truist Financial decreased their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $900.00 to $875.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their target price on Meta Platforms from $950.00 to $910.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Robert W. Baird dropped their price target on Meta Platforms from $820.00 to $815.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, December 23rd. Stifel Nicolaus cut 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. Finally, Oppenheimer downgraded shares of Meta Platforms from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note 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 given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $820.22.

About Meta Platforms

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.