Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) Shares Purchased by W.G. Shaheen & Associates DBA Whitney & Co

W.G. Shaheen & Associates DBA Whitney & Co boosted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 0.6% in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 66,783 shares of the social networking company’s stock after buying an additional 369 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms accounts for about 4.1% of W.G. Shaheen & Associates DBA Whitney & Co’s portfolio, making the stock its 3rd largest holding. W.G. Shaheen & Associates DBA Whitney & Co’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $38,229,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. POM Investment Strategies LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $38,000. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. boosted its holdings in 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 in the last quarter. Halpern Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in Meta Platforms during the third quarter valued at $46,000. West Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Meta Platforms in the third quarter valued at $49,000. Finally, NewSquare Capital LLC raised its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 221.9% in the second quarter. NewSquare Capital LLC now owns 103 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $52,000 after acquiring an additional 71 shares during the period. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Meta Platforms

In related news, CAO Aaron Anderson sold 731 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $557.00, for a total transaction of $407,167.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 3,414 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,901,598. The trade was a 17.64 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 5,057 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $577.16, for a total value of $2,918,698.12. Following the completion of the sale, the chief technology officer now directly owns 8,565 shares in the company, valued at $4,943,375.40. This represents a 37.12 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 168,843 shares of company stock valued at $92,083,554. 13.71% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently weighed in on META. Susquehanna lifted their price target on Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $675.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Bank of America upped their target price on Meta Platforms from $630.00 to $660.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. DA Davidson started coverage on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $600.00 price target on the stock. Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $645.00 to $705.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $555.00 to $636.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, October 14th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, thirty-five have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $634.10.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

Shares of META opened at $563.09 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $572.05 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $523.31. The stock has a market cap of $1.42 trillion, a PE ratio of 26.52, a P/E/G ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.22. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1-year low of $313.66 and a 1-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.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last posted its 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. 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. As a group, analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 22.53 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 26th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 16th were paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 16th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.36%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 9.42%.

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.