Epoch Investment Partners Inc. Sells 54,739 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

Epoch Investment Partners Inc. decreased its position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 6.8% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 747,177 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 54,739 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms accounts for approximately 2.9% of Epoch Investment Partners Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its biggest holding. Epoch Investment Partners Inc.’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $551,484,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in META. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC boosted its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 59,766,000 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in Meta Platforms in the 2nd quarter valued at $23,155,393,000. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake 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 purchasing an additional 8,405,558 shares in the last quarter. Nuveen LLC bought a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the first quarter worth $2,990,544,000. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.8% in 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 buying an additional 1,532,568 shares in the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Susan J. Li sold 6,875 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Saturday, November 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $609.46, for a total value of $4,190,037.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 88,370 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $53,857,980.20. The trade was a 7.22% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 2,610 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Saturday, November 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $609.46, for a total transaction of $1,590,690.60. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer owned 9,784 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,962,956.64. This represents a 21.06% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 41,440 shares of company stock valued at $26,233,492. 13.61% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Meta Platforms Stock Down 1.0%

NASDAQ:META opened at $650.13 on Thursday. 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, Inc. has a 12-month low of $479.80 and a 12-month high of $796.25. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $668.73 and its 200-day simple moving average is $707.04. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.64 trillion, a P/E ratio of 28.72, a P/E/G ratio of 1.38 and a beta of 1.28.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The social networking company reported $7.25 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $6.74 by $0.51. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 39.35% and a net margin of 30.89%.The firm had revenue of $51.24 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $49.34 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $6.03 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 26.2% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently issued reports on META. TD Cowen reduced their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $875.00 to $810.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Sanford C. Bernstein reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $870.00 target price (down from $900.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. DA Davidson set a $825.00 price target on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Royal Bank Of Canada dropped their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $840.00 to $810.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Finally, Erste Group Bank lowered Meta Platforms from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, November 10th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-nine have given a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $821.63.

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.