Index Fund Advisors Inc. Raises Stock Holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Index Fund Advisors Inc. raised its position in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 38.0% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,653 shares of the social networking company’s stock after buying an additional 730 shares during the quarter. Index Fund Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $1,518,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Delos Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in Meta Platforms by 527.3% during the 1st 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 bought a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the second quarter valued at $38,000. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 44 shares in the last quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. raised its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 95.6% in the 1st quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. now owns 88 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $41,000 after purchasing an additional 43 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Kathleen S. Wright Associates Inc. bought a new position in Meta Platforms in the 1st quarter worth about $44,000. Institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Meta Platforms

In related news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 901 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $451.15, for a total value of $406,486.15. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 33,324 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $15,034,122.60. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other Meta Platforms 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 sale, the insider now directly owns 33,324 shares in the company, valued at $15,034,122.60. This 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 this link. Also, Director Peggy Alford sold 1,052 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $479.00, for a total value of $503,908.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 6,168 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,954,472. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 250,817 shares of company stock worth $132,547,715 over the last 90 days. 13.71% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have weighed in on the stock. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $635.00 to $690.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, October 7th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $475.00 to $525.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Sanford C. Bernstein increased their target price on Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $675.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday. Citigroup upped their price target on Meta Platforms from $580.00 to $645.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, September 23rd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $675.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, thirty-five have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Meta Platforms presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $621.63.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

META stock opened at $573.25 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $1.45 trillion, a PE ratio of 29.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.22. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $551.05 and its 200-day moving average price is $510.72. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a one year low of $279.40 and a one year high of $602.95. 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 issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 31st. The social networking company reported $5.16 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 firm had revenue of $39.07 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $38.26 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $3.23 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 22.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 21.44 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 26th. Investors of record on Monday, September 16th were paid 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 was Monday, September 16th. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is 10.21%.

Meta Platforms Company 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.