Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) Stake Increased by Pathway Financial Advisors LLC

Pathway Financial Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 8.1% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,952 shares of the social networking company’s stock after purchasing an additional 146 shares during the period. Pathway Financial Advisors LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $1,117,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the business. Hoxton Planning & Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 5.6% in the third quarter. Hoxton Planning & Management LLC now owns 3,240 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $1,855,000 after purchasing an additional 172 shares in the last quarter. Gratus Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the third quarter worth $713,000. Cape ANN Savings Bank raised its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 3.6% during the third quarter. Cape ANN Savings Bank now owns 2,712 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $1,552,000 after acquiring an additional 95 shares in the last quarter. Brookstone Capital Management raised its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 15.6% during the third quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 47,358 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $27,110,000 after acquiring an additional 6,384 shares in the last quarter. Finally, City Holding Co. raised its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.8% during the third quarter. City Holding Co. now owns 31,731 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $18,164,000 after acquiring an additional 576 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Stock Up 1.4 %

Shares of META opened at $592.89 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $1.50 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.05, a P/E/G ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 1.22. The company has a quick ratio of 2.83, a current ratio of 2.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12 month low of $279.40 and a 12 month high of $602.95. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $532.05 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $503.76.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The social networking company reported $5.16 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.70 by $0.46. The firm had revenue of $39.07 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $38.26 billion. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 34.34% and a return on equity of 34.16%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 22.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $3.23 earnings per share. Equities analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 21.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently issued reports on the company. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $570.00 price objective on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday, August 1st. BMO Capital Markets reiterated a “market perform” rating and set a $450.00 price objective on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Wednesday, June 12th. Wolfe Research assumed coverage on Meta Platforms in a report on Tuesday, July 16th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $620.00 price objective for the company. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on Meta Platforms from $522.00 to $555.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, KeyCorp increased their price objective on Meta Platforms from $540.00 to $560.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating, thirty-five have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $601.08.

Insider Activity

In other news, COO Javier Olivan sold 413 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $583.73, for a total value of $241,080.49. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 11,946 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,973,238.58. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In related news, COO Javier Olivan sold 413 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $583.73, for a total value of $241,080.49. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 11,946 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,973,238.58. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Susan J. Li sold 8,950 shares of the firm’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 $4,714,502.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 74,579 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $39,285,234.04. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 266,332 shares of company stock worth $139,981,833. Insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

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.