Shoker Investment Counsel Inc. Acquires 217 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Shoker Investment Counsel Inc. raised its stake in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 4.5% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 5,092 shares of the social networking company’s stock after buying an additional 217 shares during the quarter. Shoker Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $2,915,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Delos Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position 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 purchasing an additional 58 shares in the last quarter. POM Investment Strategies LLC bought a new stake in Meta Platforms in the second quarter worth $38,000. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 122.2% in the 2nd quarter. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. now owns 80 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $40,000 after acquiring an additional 44 shares during the last quarter. Halpern Financial Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $46,000. Finally, West Financial Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Meta Platforms during the 3rd quarter valued at about $49,000. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

Shares of META opened at $583.17 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $563.02 and a 200-day moving average of $517.29. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a one year low of $313.66 and a one year high of $602.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a current ratio of 2.73 and a quick ratio of 2.73. The company has a market cap of $1.47 trillion, a PE ratio of 27.47, a P/E/G ratio of 1.30 and a beta of 1.22.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The social networking company reported $6.03 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.19 by $0.84. The company had revenue of $40.59 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $40.21 billion. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 35.55% and a return on equity of 35.60%. On average, equities research analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 22.53 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 26th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 16th were issued a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 16th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.34%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is currently 9.42%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have weighed in on META. Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $600.00 target price on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday, September 26th. TD Cowen lifted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $675.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Tigress Financial increased their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $575.00 to $645.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 16th. Loop Capital boosted their price target on Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $575.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 6th. Finally, Mizuho lifted their price target on Meta Platforms from $650.00 to $675.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Two research 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 given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $634.10.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Meta Platforms news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 16,702 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $528.51, for a total value of $8,827,174.02. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 72,473 shares in the company, valued at approximately $38,302,705.23. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 16,702 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $528.51, for a total value of $8,827,174.02. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 72,473 shares in the company, valued at $38,302,705.23. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $589.97, for a total transaction of $533,922.85. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 33,292 shares in the company, valued at $19,641,281.24. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 211,416 shares of company stock valued at $112,638,243 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

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.