Arjuna Capital Sells 56 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Arjuna Capital cut its stake in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 0.4% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 12,908 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 56 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms makes up approximately 1.9% of Arjuna Capital’s holdings, making the stock its 11th biggest position. Arjuna Capital’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $7,389,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Delos Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 527.3% in the first quarter. Delos Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 69 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 58 shares during the period. POM Investment Strategies LLC purchased a new position in Meta Platforms in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $38,000. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. boosted its stake in Meta Platforms by 122.2% in the 2nd quarter. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. now owns 80 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $40,000 after purchasing an additional 44 shares during the period. Halpern Financial Inc. bought a new position in Meta Platforms in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $46,000. Finally, West Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $49,000. 79.91% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Meta Platforms Stock Down 4.0 %

Shares of NASDAQ:META opened at $554.08 on Friday. The business’s 50 day moving average is $568.11 and its 200 day moving average is $520.60. The stock has a market cap of $1.40 trillion, a P/E ratio of 26.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.22. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 52-week low of $313.66 and a 52-week high of $602.95. The company has a quick ratio of 2.73, a current ratio of 2.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The social networking company reported $6.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.19 by $0.84. The business had revenue of $40.59 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $40.21 billion. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 35.60% and a net margin of 35.55%. Sell-side analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 22.53 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 26th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 16th were issued a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 16th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.36%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is currently 9.42%.

Insider Transactions at Meta Platforms

In related news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 84 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, October 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $600.00, for a total transaction of $50,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 518,424 shares in the company, valued at $311,054,400. This represents a 0.02 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Christopher K. Cox sold 20,000 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $557.52, for a total value of $11,150,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 338,662 shares in the company, valued at $188,810,838.24. This trade represents a 5.58 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 158,200 shares of company stock valued at $84,533,106. Company insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently commented on META shares. Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $675.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, October 25th. Pivotal Research boosted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $780.00 to $800.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Roth Mkm raised their price objective on Meta Platforms from $620.00 to $635.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. TD Cowen boosted their target price on Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $675.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on Meta Platforms from $590.00 to $663.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, October 14th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, thirty-five have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Meta Platforms currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $634.10.

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.