Appleton Partners Inc. MA Has $14.52 Million Stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Appleton Partners Inc. MA raised its stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 9.3% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 25,361 shares of the social networking company’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,165 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms makes up 1.1% of Appleton Partners Inc. MA’s holdings, making the stock its 23rd largest position. Appleton Partners Inc. MA’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $14,518,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Delos Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Meta Platforms by 527.3% during the first quarter. Delos Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 69 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 58 shares in the last quarter. POM Investment Strategies LLC acquired a new stake in Meta Platforms in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $38,000. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. grew its holdings in Meta Platforms by 122.2% during the second quarter. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. now owns 80 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $40,000 after purchasing an additional 44 shares during the last quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 95.6% in the first quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. now owns 88 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $41,000 after buying an additional 43 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Kathleen S. Wright Associates Inc. acquired a new position in Meta Platforms in the 1st quarter valued at $44,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Stock Down 0.6 %

META stock opened at $572.81 on Thursday. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $279.40 and a fifty-two week high of $583.04. The company has a market capitalization of $1.45 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 1.21. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $521.88 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $501.35. 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 (NASDAQ:META) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The social networking company reported $5.16 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.70 by $0.46. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 34.34% and a return on equity of 34.16%. The firm had revenue of $39.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $38.26 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $3.23 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 22.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 21.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Meta Platforms

In other news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 8,727 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, July 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $528.87, for a total transaction of $4,615,448.49. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 178,099 shares in the company, valued at $94,191,218.13. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Meta Platforms news, COO Javier Olivan sold 413 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $570.00, for a total transaction of $235,410.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 12,359 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,044,630. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 8,727 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $528.87, for a total transaction of $4,615,448.49. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 178,099 shares in the company, valued at approximately $94,191,218.13. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 308,462 shares of company stock worth $162,308,065. 13.71% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have issued reports on META shares. Roth Mkm raised their target price on Meta Platforms from $510.00 to $550.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Barclays boosted their price target on Meta Platforms from $520.00 to $550.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Citigroup lifted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $580.00 to $645.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, September 23rd. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed an “underperform” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Wednesday, September 4th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $590.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, thirty-five have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $598.08.

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.