DAVENPORT & Co LLC lessened its position in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META – Free Report) by 17.5% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 406,860 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 86,115 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms comprises 1.6% of DAVENPORT & Co LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 7th biggest holding. DAVENPORT & Co LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $299,545,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC grew its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 608,429.2% in the 2nd quarter. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC now owns 59,775,823 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $44,119,937,000 after buying an additional 59,766,000 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the 2nd quarter valued at about $23,155,393,000. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in Meta Platforms by 73,443.1% in the second quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 8,417,003 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $6,212,506,000 after acquiring an additional 8,405,558 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its stake 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 worth $64,158,971,000 after acquiring an additional 1,650,435 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Meta Platforms by 0.8% during the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 192,591,101 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $142,149,566,000 after purchasing an additional 1,532,568 shares during the period. 79.91% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Meta Platforms Trading Down 0.6%

Shares of META opened at $663.29 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.67 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.30, a PEG ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 1.28. 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 1-year low of $479.80 and a 1-year high of $796.25. The company has a 50-day moving average of $654.81 and a 200 day moving average of $706.30.

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

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 23rd. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 15th were given a dividend of $0.525 per share. 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 9.28%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 519 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $659.38, for a total transaction of $342,218.22. Following the transaction, the insider owned 29,177 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $19,238,730.26. This represents a 1.75% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Robert M. Kimmitt sold 580 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the director owned 6,167 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,983,882. This represents a 8.60% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 42,074 shares of company stock worth $26,359,548. 13.61% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

META has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Bank of America dropped their target price on Meta Platforms from $900.00 to $810.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Erste Group Bank cut shares of Meta Platforms from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, November 10th. Barclays reduced their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $810.00 to $770.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Citigroup reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday, December 4th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Monday, December 22nd. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-nine have assigned a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $820.22.

View Our Latest Report on Meta Platforms

About Meta Platforms

(Free Report)

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.

Further Reading

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding META? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META – Free Report).

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