Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) Shares Bought by Kowal Investment Group LLC

Kowal Investment Group LLC lifted its position in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 6.0% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 4,853 shares of the social networking company’s stock after purchasing an additional 273 shares during the period. Kowal Investment Group LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $2,778,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Gradient Investments LLC grew its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 8.9% in the 2nd quarter. Gradient Investments LLC now owns 72,587 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $36,600,000 after buying an additional 5,953 shares during the last quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. lifted its position 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 acquiring an additional 748,076 shares during the last quarter. ERn Financial LLC grew its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 59.0% during the first quarter. ERn Financial LLC now owns 1,652 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $802,000 after purchasing an additional 613 shares during the last quarter. Stanley Laman Group Ltd. increased its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 26.5% during the second quarter. Stanley Laman Group Ltd. now owns 1,678 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $846,000 after purchasing an additional 352 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Lincoln National Corp increased its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 7.8% during the first quarter. Lincoln National Corp now owns 34,790 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $16,894,000 after purchasing an additional 2,504 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

META stock opened at $576.93 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $545.36 and its 200 day moving average price is $508.09. The firm has a market cap of $1.46 trillion, a P/E ratio of 33.14, a PEG ratio of 1.45 and a beta of 1.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a quick ratio of 2.83 and a current ratio of 2.83. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1 year low of $279.40 and a 1 year high of $602.95.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last released its quarterly earnings results 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 company had revenue of $39.07 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $38.26 billion. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 34.16% and a net margin of 34.34%. Meta Platforms’s revenue was up 22.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $3.23 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 21.37 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 26th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 16th were given a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.35%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 16th. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is 11.49%.

Insider Transactions at Meta Platforms

In related news, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 5,057 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $526.76, for a total transaction 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. This 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 the SEC website. In related news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $589.97, for a total value of $533,922.85. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 33,292 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,641,281.24. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 5,057 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 250,816 shares of company stock worth $132,421,828 over the last ninety days. 13.71% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and set a $600.00 price target on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday, September 26th. KeyCorp raised their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $560.00 to $655.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. JMP Securities upped their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $635.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 26th. Mizuho raised their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed an “underperform” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Wednesday, September 4th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, thirty-five have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Meta Platforms has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $617.37.

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.