Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) Shares Purchased by Empirical Finance LLC

Empirical Finance LLC increased its holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 1.9% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 80,516 shares of the social networking company’s stock after buying an additional 1,472 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms comprises approximately 2.7% of Empirical Finance LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 5th largest holding. Empirical Finance LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $46,091,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of META. POM Investment Strategies LLC purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the second quarter worth $38,000. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. grew its position in Meta Platforms by 122.2% during the 2nd quarter. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. now owns 80 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $40,000 after purchasing an additional 44 shares during the period. Halpern Financial Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the 3rd quarter valued at about $46,000. West Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the 3rd quarter valued at about $49,000. Finally, NewSquare Capital LLC boosted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 221.9% in the second quarter. NewSquare Capital LLC now owns 103 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $52,000 after buying an additional 71 shares during the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

NASDAQ META opened at $554.40 on Tuesday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $569.10 and a 200-day simple moving average of $521.96. The company has a current ratio of 2.73, a quick ratio of 2.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18. The stock has a market cap of $1.40 trillion, a PE ratio of 26.11, a P/E/G ratio of 1.23 and a beta of 1.22. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a twelve month low of $313.66 and a twelve month high of $602.95.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The social networking company reported $6.03 earnings per share 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 net margin of 35.55% and a return on equity of 35.60%. Equities analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 22.53 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Scotiabank reduced their price target on Meta Platforms from $585.00 to $583.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Hsbc Global Res upgraded shares of Meta Platforms to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Oppenheimer raised their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $525.00 to $615.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Truist Financial upped their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $570.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, DA Davidson started coverage on Meta Platforms in a research report on Tuesday, September 10th. They set a “buy” rating and a $600.00 target price on the stock. Two investment 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 assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $634.10.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 901 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $567.70, for a total transaction of $511,497.70. Following the sale, the insider now owns 30,581 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $17,360,833.70. This represents a 2.86 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 492 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $600.75, for a total transaction of $295,569.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 518,508 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $311,493,681. This trade represents a 0.09 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 140,593 shares of company stock worth $75,253,970 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

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.