Cumberland Partners Ltd Decreases Stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Cumberland Partners Ltd lowered its position in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 5.7% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 113,023 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 6,774 shares during the period. Meta Platforms accounts for about 4.5% of Cumberland Partners Ltd’s holdings, making the stock its 2nd biggest position. Cumberland Partners Ltd’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $64,699,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 48.8% during the first quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 49,191 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $23,886,000 after purchasing an additional 16,138 shares in the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC lifted its position in Meta Platforms by 22.4% during the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 67,195 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $32,629,000 after purchasing an additional 12,301 shares during the last quarter. Cypress Asset Management Inc. TX grew its stake in Meta Platforms by 541.8% in the 1st quarter. Cypress Asset Management Inc. TX now owns 3,819 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $1,862,000 after buying an additional 3,224 shares in the last quarter. Fortis Capital Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 13.9% in the 1st quarter. Fortis Capital Advisors LLC now owns 10,701 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $5,196,000 after buying an additional 1,307 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 20.7% during the 1st quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 2,796,010 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $1,357,687,000 after buying an additional 480,468 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

Shares of META opened at $554.08 on Friday. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a twelve month low of $313.66 and a twelve month high of $602.95. The company has a market capitalization 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. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $568.11 and a 200 day moving average of $519.97. 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 for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.19 by $0.84. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 35.60% and a net margin of 35.55%. The firm had revenue of $40.59 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $40.21 billion. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 22.53 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. TD Cowen upped their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $675.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. KeyCorp raised their price objective on Meta Platforms from $560.00 to $655.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Citigroup upped their target price on Meta Platforms from $645.00 to $705.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Pivotal Research lifted 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. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $555.00 to $636.00 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 assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $634.10.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 84 shares of the business’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 transaction of $50,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 518,424 shares in the company, valued at approximately $311,054,400. The trade was a 0.02 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO Susan J. Li sold 33,018 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $517.94, for a total transaction of $17,101,342.92. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 158,200 shares of company stock valued at $84,533,106 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Company 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.