Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp Decreases Holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp lowered its holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 3.5% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 126,425 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 4,599 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms comprises 1.0% of Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 18th biggest holding. Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $72,371,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 57,001.5% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 9,517,111 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $5,447,975,000 after acquiring an additional 9,500,444 shares during the last quarter. Integrated Investment Consultants LLC grew its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 61,769.3% during the third quarter. Integrated Investment Consultants LLC now owns 4,132,870 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $2,365,820,000 after buying an additional 4,126,190 shares during the last quarter. Sustainable Growth Advisers LP acquired a new position in Meta Platforms in the 2nd quarter valued at about $595,152,000. World Investment Advisors LLC raised its stake in Meta Platforms by 4,658.5% during the 3rd quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC now owns 909,548 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $520,662,000 after acquiring an additional 890,434 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Meta Platforms by 1.5% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 48,160,608 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $27,470,870,000 after acquiring an additional 698,884 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Stock Down 0.3 %

Shares of NASDAQ:META opened at $630.79 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.59 trillion, a P/E ratio of 29.71, a PEG ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a quick ratio of 2.73 and a current ratio of 2.73. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1 year low of $328.64 and a 1 year high of $638.40. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $583.48 and a 200-day simple moving average of $536.44.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The social networking company reported $6.03 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.19 by $0.84. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 35.55% and a return on equity of 35.60%. The firm had revenue of $40.59 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $40.21 billion. Equities analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 22.68 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 27th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 16th will be paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 16th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.32%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is currently 9.42%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Meta Platforms news, CFO Susan J. Li sold 8,951 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $577.16, for a total transaction of $5,166,159.16. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 51,591 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $29,776,261.56. This trade represents a 14.78 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $537.72, for a total value of $486,636.60. Following the sale, the insider now owns 36,912 shares in the company, valued at $19,848,320.64. The trade was a 2.39 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 214,002 shares of company stock valued at $126,740,653 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

META has been the subject of several recent research reports. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed an “underperform” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday, October 31st. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $690.00 to $719.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Barclays lifted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $630.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Bank of America upped their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $630.00 to $660.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, JMP Securities raised their price objective on 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 investment 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $635.20.

Meta Platforms Company 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.