Natixis Advisors LLC Grows Stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Natixis Advisors LLC increased its stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 5.8% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,669,051 shares of the social networking company’s stock after purchasing an additional 91,673 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms accounts for 1.9% of Natixis Advisors LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 5th largest position. Natixis Advisors LLC owned about 0.07% of Meta Platforms worth $955,431,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its holdings in Meta Platforms by 48.8% during the first quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 49,191 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $23,886,000 after acquiring an additional 16,138 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC grew its holdings in Meta Platforms by 22.4% during the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 67,195 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $32,629,000 after buying an additional 12,301 shares in the last quarter. Cypress Asset Management Inc. TX increased its position in Meta Platforms by 541.8% in the first quarter. Cypress Asset Management Inc. TX now owns 3,819 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $1,862,000 after purchasing an additional 3,224 shares during the last quarter. Northern Capital Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 3.4% in the 1st quarter. Northern Capital Management Inc. now owns 647 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $314,000 after buying an additional 21 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Catalytic Wealth RIA LLC raised its position in Meta Platforms by 24.3% during the first quarter. Catalytic Wealth RIA LLC now owns 7,131 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $3,463,000 after purchasing an additional 1,396 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 901 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $567.70, for a total value of $511,497.70. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 30,581 shares in the company, valued at approximately $17,360,833.70. This represents a 2.86 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 413 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $567.58, for a total transaction of $234,410.54. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 10,294 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,842,668.52. This represents a 3.86 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 140,593 shares of company stock worth $75,253,970 in the last quarter. 13.71% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have commented on META. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $675.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Meta Platforms from $640.00 to $660.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $570.00 price target on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $575.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $605.00 to $630.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, thirty-five have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Meta Platforms presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $634.10.

Meta Platforms Trading Up 0.1 %

Shares of NASDAQ:META opened at $554.40 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a quick ratio of 2.73 and a current ratio of 2.73. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.40 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.11, a PEG ratio of 1.23 and a beta of 1.22. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $569.10 and a 200 day moving average price of $521.96. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1-year low of $313.66 and a 1-year high of $602.95.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last announced its 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 analysts’ expectations of $40.21 billion. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 35.55% and a return on equity of 35.60%. On average, research analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 22.53 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 26th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 16th were paid a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 16th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.36%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is presently 9.42%.

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.