Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. Sells 170,332 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. decreased its position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 29.2% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 413,215 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 170,332 shares during the period. Meta Platforms makes up 0.9% of Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 18th largest position. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc.’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $236,541,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Harmony Asset Management LLC boosted its position in Meta Platforms by 1.7% in the third quarter. Harmony Asset Management LLC now owns 1,652 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $946,000 after buying an additional 28 shares in the last quarter. Hilltop Holdings Inc. lifted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 123.2% during the third quarter. Hilltop Holdings Inc. now owns 16,689 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $9,553,000 after purchasing an additional 9,212 shares in the last quarter. Hollow Brook Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Meta Platforms during the third quarter valued at $425,000. Holocene Advisors LP purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms in the third quarter worth about $311,417,000. Finally, Clear Street Derivatives LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the third quarter valued at $48,486,000. 79.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $565.30, for a total value of $511,596.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 37,790 shares in the company, valued at approximately $21,362,687. This represents a 2.34 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 413 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $522.00, for a total transaction of $215,586.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 13,598 shares in the company, valued at $7,098,156. This trade represents a 2.95 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 105,334 shares of company stock worth $59,210,941. 13.71% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ META opened at $592.83 on Tuesday. The company’s 50-day moving average is $575.21 and its 200 day moving average is $528.08. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.50 trillion, a P/E ratio of 27.92, a P/E/G ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 1.20. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1 year low of $313.66 and a 1 year high of $602.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a current ratio of 2.73 and a quick ratio of 2.73.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The social networking company reported $6.03 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.19 by $0.84. The company had revenue of $40.59 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $40.21 billion. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 35.55% and a return on equity of 35.60%. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 22.62 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 26th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 16th were given a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.34%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 16th. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 9.42%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

META has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Needham & Company LLC restated an “underperform” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on Meta Platforms from $590.00 to $663.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, October 14th. Barclays lifted their price target on Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $630.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Rosenblatt Securities reissued a “buy” rating and set a $811.00 target price on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, JMP Securities lifted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $635.00 to $660.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Two equities 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 stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $634.71.

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.