Ameriprise Financial Inc. Cuts Position in Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

Ameriprise Financial Inc. reduced its holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 1.3% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 8,842,949 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 112,154 shares during the period. Meta Platforms accounts for about 1.6% of Ameriprise Financial Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 7th largest holding. Ameriprise Financial Inc. owned about 0.35% of Meta Platforms worth $6,527,702,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Infusive Asset Management Inc. increased its position in Meta Platforms by 10.7% during the 1st quarter. Infusive Asset Management Inc. now owns 23,620 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $13,614,000 after buying an additional 2,285 shares during the period. Spirepoint Private Client LLC increased its stake in Meta Platforms by 2.7% during the 2nd quarter. Spirepoint Private Client LLC now owns 4,080 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $3,011,000 after acquiring an additional 109 shares during the period. Diversify Advisory Services LLC raised its holdings in Meta Platforms by 10.4% in the 2nd quarter. Diversify Advisory Services LLC now owns 55,431 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $43,790,000 after acquiring an additional 5,224 shares in the last quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 11.0% during the 2nd quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 210,526 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $155,387,000 after acquiring an additional 20,912 shares during the period. Finally, CW Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 27.8% during the 2nd quarter. CW Advisors LLC now owns 176,762 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $130,467,000 after acquiring an additional 38,432 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 11,690 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $593.31, for a total value of $6,935,793.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief technology officer directly owned 2,415 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,432,843.65. This trade represents a 82.88% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CAO Aaron Anderson sold 726 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $591.60, for a total value of $429,501.60. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 6,035 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,570,306. The trade was a 10.74% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 41,959 shares of company stock worth $26,578,191. 13.61% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Meta Platforms Trading Down 1.3%

META opened at $644.23 on Friday. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $665.92 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $706.78. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.62 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.46, a PEG ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 1.28. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $479.80 and a fifty-two week high of $796.25. 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 (NASDAQ:META) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 29th. The social networking company reported $7.25 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $6.74 by $0.51. The company had revenue of $51.24 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $49.34 billion. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 30.89% and a return on equity of 39.35%. Meta Platforms’s revenue for the quarter was up 26.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $6.03 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Benchmark cut shares of Meta Platforms from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating 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. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Meta Platforms from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 18th. Roth Capital restated a “buy” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Finally, Raymond James Financial reiterated a “strong-buy” rating and issued a $825.00 price target (down previously from $900.00) on shares of Meta Platforms 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 stock. According to MarketBeat, Meta Platforms presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $819.46.

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.