Cresta Advisors Ltd. Decreases Stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Cresta Advisors Ltd. decreased its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 11.2% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,972 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 500 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms comprises about 1.2% of Cresta Advisors Ltd.’s portfolio, making the stock its 19th biggest holding. Cresta Advisors Ltd.’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $2,274,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. JDM Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in Meta Platforms in the 3rd quarter valued at about $30,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the third quarter valued at approximately $36,000. POM Investment Strategies LLC purchased a new position in Meta Platforms during the second quarter worth approximately $38,000. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. boosted its stake in Meta Platforms by 122.2% during the second quarter. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. now owns 80 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $40,000 after buying an additional 44 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Halpern Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms in the 3rd quarter valued at $46,000. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Meta Platforms Trading Up 0.9 %

Shares of META stock opened at $619.32 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $1.56 trillion, a P/E ratio of 29.17, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a current ratio of 2.73, a quick ratio of 2.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18. The business’s 50 day moving average is $581.32 and its two-hundred day moving average is $535.09. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a twelve month low of $319.99 and a twelve month high of $629.79.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The social networking company reported $6.03 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.19 by $0.84. The firm had revenue of $40.59 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $40.21 billion. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 35.55% and a return on equity of 35.60%. Equities analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 22.68 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 27th. Investors of record on Monday, December 16th will be given a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 16th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.32%. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is currently 9.42%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Tigress Financial raised their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $575.00 to $645.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 16th. Truist Financial lifted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $570.00 to $650.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Sanford C. Bernstein increased their price objective on Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $675.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Piper Sandler lifted their target price on Meta Platforms from $650.00 to $670.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, DA Davidson began coverage on Meta Platforms in a report on Tuesday, September 10th. They set a “buy” rating and a $600.00 price target for the company. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, thirty-five have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $635.20.

Insider Buying and Selling at Meta Platforms

In other news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $537.72, for a total transaction of $486,636.60. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 36,912 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,848,320.64. This trade represents a 2.39 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 84 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $600.00, for a total value of $50,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 518,424 shares in the company, valued at approximately $311,054,400. This represents a 0.02 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 164,201 shares of company stock valued at $95,420,559. 13.71% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.