Beaton Management Co. Inc. Has $4.68 Million Stock Position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Beaton Management Co. Inc. lifted its holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 0.9% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 9,290 shares of the social networking company’s stock after acquiring an additional 82 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms accounts for about 2.5% of Beaton Management Co. Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 9th biggest holding. Beaton Management Co. Inc.’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $4,684,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.4% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 187,180,393 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $90,891,055,000 after acquiring an additional 831,047 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors raised its holdings in Meta Platforms by 0.6% during the 1st quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 38,299,316 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $18,597,382,000 after buying an additional 244,803 shares during the last quarter. Capital International Investors raised its holdings in Meta Platforms by 3.2% during the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 34,738,470 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $12,296,383,000 after buying an additional 1,083,719 shares during the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors raised its holdings in Meta Platforms by 14.5% during the 1st quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 34,597,001 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $16,799,612,000 after buying an additional 4,379,826 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sanders Capital LLC raised its holdings in Meta Platforms by 2.4% during the 4th quarter. Sanders Capital LLC now owns 14,569,705 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $5,157,093,000 after buying an additional 344,384 shares during the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Meta Platforms

In other Meta Platforms news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $537.72, for a total transaction of $486,636.60. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 36,912 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,848,320.64. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $537.72, for a total value of $486,636.60. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 36,912 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,848,320.64. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 9,760 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $502.87, for a total transaction of $4,908,011.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 247,915 shares in the company, valued at approximately $124,669,016.05. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 356,426 shares of company stock worth $185,053,425. Company insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

Shares of META stock opened at $561.35 on Friday. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a one year low of $279.40 and a one year high of $564.50. The company’s 50-day moving average is $507.58 and its 200 day moving average is $497.22. The company has a market capitalization of $1.42 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 1.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a quick ratio of 2.83 and a current ratio of 2.83.

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 business had revenue of $39.07 billion for 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 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. Sell-side analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 21.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 26th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 16th will be paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.36%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 16th. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is currently 11.49%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

META has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $520.00 to $550.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Rosenblatt Securities upped their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $562.00 to $643.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Citigroup upped their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $580.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Raymond James boosted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $600.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, July 1st. Finally, TD Cowen boosted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $530.00 to $600.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 10th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating, thirty-four have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $577.26.

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.