Watts Gwilliam & Co. LLC Decreases Stock Position in Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

Watts Gwilliam & Co. LLC decreased its stake in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 6.0% during the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 18,016 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 1,150 shares during the period. Meta Platforms accounts for 2.4% of Watts Gwilliam & Co. LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 7th largest position. Watts Gwilliam & Co. LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $14,057,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

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

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

NASDAQ META opened at $647.51 on Tuesday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $664.55 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $707.70. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12-month low of $479.80 and a 12-month high of $796.25. The firm has a market cap of $1.63 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.60, a PEG ratio of 1.35 and a beta of 1.28. The company has a quick ratio of 1.98, a current ratio of 1.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15.

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, topping the consensus estimate of $6.74 by $0.51. The firm had revenue of $51.24 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $49.34 billion. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 39.35% and a net margin of 30.89%.The company’s quarterly revenue was up 26.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $6.03 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 23rd. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.525 per share. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 15th. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is 9.28%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently commented on META shares. Royal Bank Of Canada reduced their target price on Meta Platforms from $840.00 to $810.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on Meta Platforms from $820.00 to $750.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $900.00 to $915.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $920.00 target price on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Finally, Oppenheimer cut shares of Meta Platforms from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-nine have assigned a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Meta Platforms presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $819.46.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Meta Platforms news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 519 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $664.16, for a total value of $344,699.04. Following the sale, the insider owned 30,215 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,067,594.40. This trade represents a 1.69% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CAO Aaron Anderson sold 726 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $591.60, for a total transaction of $429,501.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 6,035 shares in the company, valued at $3,570,306. The trade was a 10.74% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last three months, insiders sold 40,458 shares of company stock worth $25,436,200. 13.61% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.