211,500 Shares in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) Bought by ValueAct Holdings L.P.

ValueAct Holdings L.P. bought a new position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 211,500 shares of the social networking company’s stock, valued at approximately $121,071,000. Meta Platforms accounts for about 2.8% of ValueAct Holdings L.P.’s portfolio, making the stock its 7th biggest position.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of META. CTC Alternative Strategies Ltd. bought a new stake in Meta Platforms during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $1,733,000. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC bought a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the third quarter valued at approximately $74,000. Headinvest LLC grew its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 6.2% in the third quarter. Headinvest LLC now owns 1,656 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $948,000 after acquiring an additional 97 shares during the last quarter. Northeast Financial Consultants Inc increased its position in Meta Platforms by 6.2% during the third quarter. Northeast Financial Consultants Inc now owns 1,388 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $795,000 after acquiring an additional 81 shares during the period. Finally, Kensington Investment Counsel LLC raised its stake in Meta Platforms by 3.8% during the 3rd quarter. Kensington Investment Counsel LLC now owns 2,569 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $1,471,000 after purchasing an additional 94 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Stock Up 2.4 %

NASDAQ:META opened at $623.77 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 2.73, a current ratio of 2.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12-month low of $317.77 and a 12-month high of $629.79. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $579.64 and its 200-day simple moving average is $532.13. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.57 trillion, a P/E ratio of 29.38, a P/E/G ratio of 1.35 and a beta of 1.20.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The social networking company reported $6.03 earnings per share (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 return on equity of 35.60% and a net margin of 35.55%. Equities research analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 22.68 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 27th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 16th will be issued a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 16th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.32%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 9.42%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have issued reports on the stock. DA Davidson started coverage on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Tuesday, September 10th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $600.00 price target on the stock. Mizuho boosted their price target on Meta Platforms from $650.00 to $675.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Truist Financial raised their price objective on Meta Platforms from $570.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. JMP Securities boosted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $635.00 to $660.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Raymond James reaffirmed a “strong-buy” rating and issued a $675.00 target price on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Monday, November 25th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, thirty-five have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Meta Platforms has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $634.71.

Insider Transactions at Meta Platforms

In related news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 35,921 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $607.97, for a total transaction of $21,838,890.37. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $507.63, for a total transaction of $459,405.15. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 37,817 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $19,197,043.71. The trade was a 2.34 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 142,160 shares of company stock valued at $81,611,223 over the last three months. 13.71% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.