Ashton Thomas Securities LLC Acquires 966 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Ashton Thomas Securities LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 8.4% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 12,490 shares of the social networking company’s stock after purchasing an additional 966 shares during the period. Meta Platforms accounts for 1.4% of Ashton Thomas Securities LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 13th biggest holding. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $7,150,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of META. 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 purchasing an additional 58 shares during the period. POM Investment Strategies LLC bought a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the 2nd quarter valued at $38,000. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. increased its position 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 worth $40,000 after buying an additional 44 shares during the period. Halpern Financial Inc. bought a new position in Meta Platforms during the third quarter worth $46,000. Finally, J.Safra Asset Management Corp acquired a new position in Meta Platforms in the first quarter valued at $47,000. Institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 16,702 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $529.09, for a total value of $8,836,861.18. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 55,019 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $29,110,002.71. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other Meta Platforms news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 16,702 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $529.09, for a total transaction of $8,836,861.18. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 55,019 shares in the company, valued at $29,110,002.71. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 901 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $567.70, for a total transaction of $511,497.70. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 30,581 shares in the company, valued at approximately $17,360,833.70. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 175,807 shares of company stock valued at $93,851,617 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:META opened at $580.00 on Thursday. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $313.66 and a fifty-two week high of $602.95. The company’s 50-day moving average is $564.48 and its 200 day moving average is $518.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a quick ratio of 2.73 and a current ratio of 2.73. The company has a market capitalization of $1.46 trillion, a P/E ratio of 27.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 1.22.

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

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 26th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 16th were paid 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 payout ratio is presently 9.42%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have weighed in on META shares. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on Meta Platforms from $525.00 to $530.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Evercore ISI raised their target price on Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $600.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $570.00 price target on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $675.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $690.00 to $719.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, thirty-five have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $634.10.

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.