Acorn Creek Capital LLC Boosts Holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Acorn Creek Capital LLC boosted its position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 3.7% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,894 shares of the social networking company’s stock after buying an additional 68 shares during the period. Meta Platforms makes up about 0.6% of Acorn Creek Capital LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 20th biggest position. Acorn Creek Capital LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $1,084,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Capital Research Global Investors raised its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 14.5% during the 1st quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 34,597,001 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $16,799,612,000 after buying an additional 4,379,826 shares during the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC raised its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 24.7% during the 1st quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 13,867,398 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $6,733,731,000 after buying an additional 2,748,620 shares during the last quarter. Sustainable Growth Advisers LP acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the 2nd quarter worth $595,152,000. Global Assets Advisory LLC acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the 1st quarter worth $515,383,000. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.4% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 187,180,393 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $90,891,055,000 after buying an additional 831,047 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on META shares. Barclays lifted their price target on Meta Platforms from $520.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Needham & Company LLC reiterated an “underperform” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Wednesday, September 4th. Monness Crespi & Hardt lifted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $570.00 to $620.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, September 30th. Piper Sandler lifted their price target on Meta Platforms from $545.00 to $575.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, Bank of America lifted their price target on Meta Platforms from $563.00 to $630.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, September 26th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, thirty-five have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $613.46.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

Shares of META opened at $586.27 on Wednesday. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 52-week low of $279.40 and a 52-week high of $602.95. 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 firm has a market cap of $1.49 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.67, a PEG ratio of 1.45 and a beta of 1.22. The business’s 50 day moving average is $542.26 and its two-hundred day moving average is $507.12.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The social networking company reported $5.16 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.70 by $0.46. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 34.16% and a net margin of 34.34%. The business had revenue of $39.07 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $38.26 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $3.23 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 22.1% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 21.37 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Activity

In other news, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 5,057 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $526.76, for a total value of $2,663,825.32. Following the completion of the sale, the chief technology officer now directly owns 11,990 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,315,852.40. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, CFO Susan J. Li sold 33,018 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $517.94, for a total transaction of $17,101,342.92. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 5,057 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $526.76, for a total value of $2,663,825.32. Following the transaction, the chief technology officer now owns 11,990 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,315,852.40. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 250,239 shares of company stock worth $132,033,148. 13.71% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.