Channing Global Advisors LLC Sells 1,942 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Channing Global Advisors LLC lowered its position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 12.1% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 14,147 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 1,942 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms accounts for 3.9% of Channing Global Advisors LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 7th largest holding. Channing Global Advisors LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $5,007,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Stone House Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 625.0% in the third quarter. Stone House Investment Management LLC now owns 87 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 75 shares in the last quarter. Beaird Harris Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 68.9% in the third quarter. Beaird Harris Wealth Management LLC now owns 103 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 42 shares in the last quarter. PayPay Securities Corp lifted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 65.2% in the third quarter. PayPay Securities Corp now owns 109 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 43 shares in the last quarter. Cranbrook Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in Meta Platforms by 80.4% in the fourth quarter. Cranbrook Wealth Management LLC now owns 101 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $36,000 after buying an additional 45 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Gilfoyle & Co LLC bought a new stake in Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter valued at about $39,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Meta Platforms

In other Meta Platforms news, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 8,036 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $473.28, for a total value of $3,803,278.08. Following the sale, the chief technology officer now directly owns 18,432 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,723,496.96. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 8,036 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $473.28, for a total value of $3,803,278.08. Following the transaction, the chief technology officer now owns 18,432 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,723,496.96. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 6,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $400.00, for a total transaction of $2,600,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 68,935 shares in the company, valued at approximately $27,574,000. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 1,349,148 shares of company stock worth $649,552,559. Insiders own 13.75% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

META has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Robert W. Baird lowered their price objective on Meta Platforms from $525.00 to $500.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday. Barclays lowered their target price on Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $520.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Meta Platforms from $375.00 to $550.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, February 2nd. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their target price on Meta Platforms from $585.00 to $540.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday. Finally, Evercore ISI upped their target price on Meta Platforms from $425.00 to $550.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, February 2nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, thirty-eight have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Meta Platforms presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $509.18.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

Shares of Meta Platforms stock traded down $2.57 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $438.81. The company had a trading volume of 19,389,490 shares, compared to its average volume of 18,222,158. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1-year low of $229.85 and a 1-year high of $531.49. The company has a market capitalization of $1.12 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a current ratio of 2.67, a quick ratio of 2.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $495.08 and a 200 day simple moving average of $403.40.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 24th. The social networking company reported $4.71 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.32 by $0.39. The firm had revenue of $36.46 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $36.28 billion. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 32.06% and a return on equity of 32.37%. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 20.18 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 26th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 22nd were given a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 21st. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.46%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is currently 11.49%.

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.