Allen Mooney & Barnes Investment Advisors LLC Lowers Stock Position in Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

Allen Mooney & Barnes Investment Advisors LLC trimmed its stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 41.8% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 22,479 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 16,138 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms makes up 2.6% of Allen Mooney & Barnes Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 10th biggest position. Allen Mooney & Barnes Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $16,508,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

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

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

Shares of Meta Platforms stock opened at $663.29 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a current ratio of 1.98 and a quick ratio of 1.98. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $654.81 and a 200 day simple moving average of $706.30. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $479.80 and a fifty-two week high of $796.25. The firm has a market cap of $1.67 trillion, a P/E ratio of 29.30, a P/E/G ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 1.28.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 29th. The social networking company reported $7.25 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.74 by $0.51. The firm had revenue of $51.24 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $49.34 billion. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 39.35% and a net margin of 30.89%.The business’s quarterly revenue was up 26.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $6.03 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 23rd. Investors of record on Monday, December 15th were issued a $0.525 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 15th. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.3%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 9.28%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently commented on META shares. Royal Bank Of Canada decreased their price target on Meta Platforms from $840.00 to $810.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Monness Crespi & Hardt cut their price objective on Meta Platforms from $860.00 to $808.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Erste Group Bank downgraded shares of Meta Platforms from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, November 10th. Cantor Fitzgerald dropped their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $830.00 to $720.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, November 19th. Finally, Bank of America reduced their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $900.00 to $810.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-nine have given a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $820.22.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Meta Platforms news, Director Robert M. Kimmitt sold 580 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $646.00, for a total transaction of $374,680.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 6,167 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,983,882. This represents a 8.60% 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 517 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $661.11, for a total transaction of $341,793.87. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 12,717 shares in the company, valued at $8,407,335.87. This trade represents a 3.91% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 42,074 shares of company stock worth $26,359,548 over the last three months. 13.61% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

About Meta Platforms

Meta Platforms, Inc (NASDAQ: META), formerly Facebook, Inc, is a global technology company best known for building social networking services and immersive computing platforms. Founded in 2004 and headquartered in Menlo Park, California, the company operates a family of consumer-facing products and services that connect users, creators and businesses. In October 2021 the company rebranded as Meta to reflect an expanded strategic focus on augmented and virtual reality technologies alongside its social media businesses.

Meta’s core consumer products include Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp and Messenger, which enable social networking, messaging, content sharing and community building across mobile and desktop devices.