Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) Shares Purchased by Bill Few Associates Inc.

Bill Few Associates Inc. boosted its holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 2.0% in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,025 shares of the social networking company’s stock after purchasing an additional 20 shares during the quarter. Bill Few Associates Inc.’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $587,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Gradient Investments LLC boosted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 8.9% in the second quarter. Gradient Investments LLC now owns 72,587 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $36,600,000 after purchasing an additional 5,953 shares in the last quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. boosted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 14.0% in the first quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. now owns 6,101,501 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $2,962,767,000 after purchasing an additional 748,076 shares in the last quarter. ERn Financial LLC boosted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 59.0% in the first quarter. ERn Financial LLC now owns 1,652 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $802,000 after purchasing an additional 613 shares in the last quarter. Stanley Laman Group Ltd. lifted its stake in Meta Platforms by 26.5% in the second quarter. Stanley Laman Group Ltd. now owns 1,678 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $846,000 after buying an additional 352 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Lincoln National Corp lifted its stake in Meta Platforms by 7.8% in the first quarter. Lincoln National Corp now owns 34,790 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $16,894,000 after buying an additional 2,504 shares during the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

META opened at $586.27 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $1.49 trillion, a PE ratio of 33.67, a P/E/G ratio of 1.45 and a beta of 1.22. The company has a quick ratio of 2.83, a current ratio of 2.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $542.26 and a 200-day simple moving average of $507.12. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $279.40 and a fifty-two week high of $602.95.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 31st. The social networking company reported $5.16 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.70 by $0.46. The business had revenue of $39.07 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $38.26 billion. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 34.16% and a net margin of 34.34%. The company’s revenue was up 22.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $3.23 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 21.37 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 26th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 16th were given a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 16th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.34%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 11.49%.

Insider Transactions at Meta Platforms

In other news, COO Javier Olivan sold 412 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $474.86, for a total value of $195,642.32. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 5,971 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,835,389.06. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In related news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $489.80, for a total transaction of $443,269.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 35,130 shares in the company, valued at approximately $17,206,674. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 412 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $474.86, for a total value of $195,642.32. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 5,971 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,835,389.06. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 250,239 shares of company stock valued at $132,033,148 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on META shares. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $555.00 to $636.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday. Barclays boosted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $520.00 to $550.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $565.00 to $575.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, July 22nd. Truist Financial boosted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $570.00 to $650.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, TD Cowen upped their price target on Meta Platforms from $530.00 to $600.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 10th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, thirty-five have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $613.46.

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.