Moran Wealth Management LLC Purchases 106 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Moran Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 0.4% in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 29,908 shares of the social networking company’s stock after purchasing an additional 106 shares during the period. Moran Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $17,121,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. LS Investment Advisors LLC grew its stake in Meta Platforms by 111.4% in the 3rd quarter. LS Investment Advisors LLC now owns 11,679 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $6,686,000 after purchasing an additional 6,155 shares during the period. Gradient Investments LLC grew its position in Meta Platforms by 8.9% during the second 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 period. Cutter & CO Brokerage Inc. increased its holdings in Meta Platforms by 0.7% during the third quarter. Cutter & CO Brokerage Inc. now owns 9,735 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $5,573,000 after buying an additional 65 shares during the last quarter. Stanley Laman Group Ltd. raised its position in Meta Platforms by 26.5% in the second quarter. Stanley Laman Group Ltd. now owns 1,678 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $846,000 after acquiring an additional 352 shares during the period. Finally, Janney Montgomery Scott LLC increased its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.4% during the 3rd quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 412,046 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $235,872,000 after purchasing an additional 5,594 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have weighed in on META shares. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $600.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Susquehanna upped their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $675.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $570.00 price target on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $640.00 to $660.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $600.00 target price on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday, September 26th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, thirty-five have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $634.10.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Meta Platforms news, CFO Susan J. Li sold 33,018 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $517.94, for a total value of $17,101,342.92. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 518,508 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $311,493,681. The trade was a 0.09 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 168,843 shares of company stock worth $92,083,554. Company insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

META opened at $559.14 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $572.74 and its 200-day moving average price is $523.96. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 52-week low of $313.66 and a 52-week high of $602.95. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.41 trillion, a PE ratio of 26.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a quick ratio of 2.73 and a current ratio of 2.73.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 35.55% and a return on equity of 35.60%. The business had revenue of $40.59 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $40.21 billion. On average, equities research analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 22.53 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed 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. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 16th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.36%. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is 9.42%.

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.