Prosperity Financial Group Inc. Reduces Stock Holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Prosperity Financial Group Inc. cut its stake in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 6.5% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 3,146 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 219 shares during the period. Meta Platforms makes up approximately 1.0% of Prosperity Financial Group Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 27th largest holding. Prosperity Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $1,801,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.9% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 13,827,565 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $7,915,451,000 after acquiring an additional 118,298 shares during the last quarter. LS Investment Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Meta Platforms by 111.4% during the 3rd quarter. LS Investment Advisors LLC now owns 11,679 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $6,686,000 after purchasing an additional 6,155 shares during the last quarter. Gradient Investments LLC increased its holdings in Meta Platforms by 8.9% during the 2nd quarter. Gradient Investments LLC now owns 72,587 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $36,600,000 after purchasing an additional 5,953 shares during the last quarter. Cutter & CO Brokerage Inc. raised its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.7% in the 3rd quarter. Cutter & CO Brokerage Inc. now owns 9,735 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $5,573,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Stanley Laman Group Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 26.5% during the 2nd quarter. Stanley Laman Group Ltd. now owns 1,678 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $846,000 after buying an additional 352 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently issued reports on META. JMP Securities upped their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $635.00 to $660.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $690.00 to $719.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on Meta Platforms from $590.00 to $663.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, October 14th. Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and set a $600.00 price objective on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday, September 26th. Finally, Loop Capital lifted their target price on Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $575.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 6th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, thirty-five have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $634.71.

Insider Transactions at Meta Platforms

In related news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 492 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $600.75, for a total value of $295,569.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 518,508 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $311,493,681. This trade represents a 0.09 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 413 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $521.35, for a total transaction of $215,317.55. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 14,011 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,304,634.85. This trade represents a 2.86 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 110,656 shares of company stock valued at $61,933,867 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

NASDAQ META opened at $573.54 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.45 trillion, a P/E ratio of 27.02, a P/E/G ratio of 1.23 and a beta of 1.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a quick ratio of 2.73 and a current ratio of 2.73. The business’s fifty day moving average is $573.38 and its two-hundred day moving average is $525.35. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1 year low of $313.66 and a 1 year high of $602.95.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The social networking company reported $6.03 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.19 by $0.84. The business had revenue of $40.59 billion during 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%. On average, research analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 22.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 26th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 16th were issued a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.35%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 16th. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is 9.42%.

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.