Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) Stock Position Raised by Heritage Financial Services LLC

Heritage Financial Services LLC lifted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 21.1% during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 655 shares of the social networking company’s stock after purchasing an additional 114 shares during the period. Heritage Financial Services LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $375,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of META. Occidental Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 14.8% in the first quarter. Occidental Asset Management LLC now owns 25,800 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $12,528,000 after acquiring an additional 3,327 shares in the last quarter. Hodges Capital Management Inc. grew its position in Meta Platforms by 2.5% during the 1st quarter. Hodges Capital Management Inc. now owns 7,981 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $3,876,000 after purchasing an additional 192 shares in the last quarter. First Dallas Securities Inc. raised its stake in Meta Platforms by 1.0% during the 1st quarter. First Dallas Securities Inc. now owns 8,286 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $4,024,000 after purchasing an additional 80 shares during the period. Trust Co. of Virginia VA purchased a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the first quarter valued at $242,000. Finally, Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 49.3% in the first quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 8,151 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $3,958,000 after buying an additional 2,692 shares during the period. 79.91% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 84 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $600.00, for a total value of $50,400.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 518,424 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $311,054,400. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, CFO Susan J. Li sold 8,950 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $526.76, for a total value of $4,714,502.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 74,579 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $39,285,234.04. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 84 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $600.00, for a total value of $50,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 518,424 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $311,054,400. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 250,817 shares of company stock valued at $132,547,715. 13.71% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Guggenheim increased their price objective on Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $665.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, October 7th. Robert W. Baird increased their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $530.00 to $605.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 26th. Pivotal Research initiated coverage on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. They set a “buy” rating and a $780.00 price target for the company. Wolfe Research began coverage on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Tuesday, July 16th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $620.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, TD Securities lifted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $530.00 to $600.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 10th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, thirty-five have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Meta Platforms presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $621.63.

Meta Platforms Trading Up 1.0 %

Shares of NASDAQ META opened at $573.25 on Monday. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1-year low of $279.40 and a 1-year high of $602.95. The company has a 50-day moving average of $551.05 and a two-hundred day moving average of $510.65. The company has a market cap of $1.45 trillion, a PE ratio of 29.26, a P/E/G ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.22. The company has a current ratio of 2.83, a quick ratio of 2.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 31st. The social networking company reported $5.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.70 by $0.46. The firm had revenue of $39.07 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $38.26 billion. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 34.16% and a net margin of 34.34%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 22.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $3.23 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 21.44 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 26th. Investors of record on Monday, September 16th were given 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 0.35%. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is 10.21%.

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.