Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) Shares Acquired by Cullen Investment Group LTD.

Cullen Investment Group LTD. boosted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 0.9% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 8,757 shares of the social networking company’s stock after purchasing an additional 75 shares during the quarter. Cullen Investment Group LTD.’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $5,013,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in META. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.4% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 187,180,393 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $90,891,055,000 after buying an additional 831,047 shares during the period. Capital World Investors increased its position in Meta Platforms by 0.6% in the first quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 38,299,316 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $18,597,382,000 after buying an additional 244,803 shares during the period. Capital Research Global Investors lifted its stake in Meta Platforms by 14.5% in the first quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 34,597,001 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $16,799,612,000 after buying an additional 4,379,826 shares during the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 24.7% during the first quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 13,867,398 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $6,733,731,000 after acquiring an additional 2,748,620 shares during the period. Finally, GQG Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 3.1% during the first quarter. GQG Partners LLC now owns 11,497,335 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $5,582,876,000 after acquiring an additional 342,742 shares during the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 901 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $451.15, for a total transaction of $406,486.15. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 33,324 shares in the company, valued at $15,034,122.60. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Meta Platforms news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 901 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $451.15, for a total value of $406,486.15. Following the sale, the insider now owns 33,324 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $15,034,122.60. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 412 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $463.00, for a total transaction of $190,756.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 5,559 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,573,817. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 300,228 shares of company stock worth $158,005,260 in the last quarter. 13.71% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Meta Platforms Stock Up 2.3 %

META traded up $13.17 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $595.94. 14,199,788 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 15,523,651. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a current ratio of 2.83 and a quick ratio of 2.83. The company has a market cap of $1.51 trillion, a PE ratio of 34.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 1.22. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $527.07 and its 200-day simple moving average is $502.60. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a one year low of $279.40 and a one year high of $596.85.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 31st. The social networking company reported $5.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.70 by $0.46. The business had revenue of $39.07 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $38.26 billion. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 34.34% and a return on equity of 34.16%. Meta Platforms’s quarterly revenue was up 22.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $3.23 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 21.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 26th. Investors of record on Monday, September 16th were paid a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 16th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.34%. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is presently 11.49%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have commented on META. DA Davidson initiated coverage on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Tuesday, September 10th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $600.00 target price for the company. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $575.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Truist Financial lifted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $535.00 to $570.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Wolfe Research assumed coverage on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Tuesday, July 16th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $620.00 target price for the company. Finally, Oppenheimer upped their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $525.00 to $615.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, thirty-five have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $598.08.

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.