Welch Group LLC Acquires 1,199 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Welch Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 9.1% in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 14,411 shares of the social networking company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,199 shares during the period. Welch Group LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $8,250,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of META. Delos Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 527.3% during the first quarter. Delos Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 69 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 58 shares in the last quarter. POM Investment Strategies LLC purchased a new position in Meta Platforms during the 2nd quarter worth $38,000. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. increased its holdings in Meta Platforms by 122.2% during the 2nd quarter. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. now owns 80 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $40,000 after purchasing an additional 44 shares during the period. Richardson Financial Services Inc. raised its position in Meta Platforms by 95.6% during the 1st quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. now owns 88 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $41,000 after purchasing an additional 43 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Halpern Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the 3rd quarter worth $46,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, COO Javier Olivan sold 413 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $574.16, for a total value of $237,128.08. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 10,707 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,147,531.12. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other Meta Platforms news, COO Javier Olivan sold 413 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, October 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $574.16, for a total transaction of $237,128.08. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 10,707 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,147,531.12. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $574.70, for a total transaction of $520,103.50. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 32,387 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,612,808.90. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 250,818 shares of company stock worth $132,569,993 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Stock Down 0.2 %

Shares of META stock opened at $591.80 on Thursday. 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, Inc. has a twelve month low of $296.86 and a twelve month high of $602.95. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $554.49 and a 200 day moving average of $512.18. The stock has a market cap of $1.50 trillion, a P/E ratio of 33.99, a P/E/G ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.22.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last posted its earnings results 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 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 business’s revenue was up 22.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $3.23 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 21.44 EPS for the current 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 dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.34%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 16th. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is currently 11.49%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently weighed in on META. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $590.00 to $663.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, October 14th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $525.00 to $585.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $555.00 to $636.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, October 14th. UBS Group upped their target price on Meta Platforms from $635.00 to $690.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, October 7th. Finally, Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $600.00 price target on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday, September 26th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, thirty-five have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $621.63.

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.