Commonwealth Equity Services LLC Buys 7,565 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Commonwealth Equity Services LLC boosted its position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 1.3% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 576,028 shares of the social networking company’s stock after acquiring an additional 7,565 shares during the period. Meta Platforms accounts for approximately 0.5% of Commonwealth Equity Services LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 29th biggest holding. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $329,742,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of META. Cooper Financial Group boosted its position in Meta Platforms by 7.7% during the first quarter. Cooper Financial Group now owns 4,336 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $2,105,000 after purchasing an additional 311 shares in the last quarter. Catalyst Private Wealth LLC lifted its position in Meta Platforms by 31.8% in the first quarter. Catalyst Private Wealth LLC now owns 6,920 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $3,360,000 after buying an additional 1,669 shares during the last quarter. GenWealth Group Inc. lifted its stake in Meta Platforms by 4.5% during the first quarter. GenWealth Group Inc. now owns 1,160 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $563,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. Opal Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in Meta Platforms by 3.8% during the first quarter. Opal Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,349 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $1,141,000 after purchasing an additional 85 shares during the period. Finally, San Luis Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 8.0% during the 1st quarter. San Luis Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,424 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $692,000 after buying an additional 106 shares in the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Meta Platforms

In other Meta Platforms news, CFO Susan J. Li sold 33,018 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $517.94, for a total value of $17,101,342.92. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other Meta Platforms news, CFO Susan J. Li sold 33,018 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $517.94, for a total transaction of $17,101,342.92. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $489.80, for a total value of $443,269.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 35,130 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $17,206,674. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 250,816 shares of company stock worth $132,421,828. 13.71% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ META opened at $576.47 on Monday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $546.53 and a 200-day moving average of $508.77. 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, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $279.40 and a fifty-two week high of $602.95. The stock has a market cap of $1.46 trillion, a PE ratio of 33.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.45 and a beta of 1.22.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The social networking company reported $5.16 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.70 by $0.46. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 34.16% and a net margin of 34.34%. The company had revenue of $39.07 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $38.26 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $3.23 EPS. Meta Platforms’s quarterly revenue was up 22.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 21.37 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on META. TD Securities lifted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $530.00 to $600.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 10th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $570.00 price target on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Pivotal Research began coverage on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. They set a “buy” rating and a $780.00 price target on the stock. Loop Capital upped their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $575.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 6th. Finally, Guggenheim increased their target price on Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $665.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, October 7th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, thirty-five have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $617.37.

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.