Global Wealth Strategies & Associates Grows Holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Global Wealth Strategies & Associates boosted its holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 8.9% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 524 shares of the social networking company’s stock after buying an additional 43 shares during the period. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates’ holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $300,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of META. Baird Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings in Meta Platforms by 24.2% in the 4th quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 835,972 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $295,901,000 after purchasing an additional 163,067 shares in the last quarter. Voyager Global Management LP raised its stake in Meta Platforms by 37.3% during the fourth quarter. Voyager Global Management LP now owns 515,000 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $182,289,000 after buying an additional 140,000 shares in the last quarter. Gradient Investments LLC grew its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 8.9% during the 2nd quarter. Gradient Investments LLC now owns 72,587 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $36,600,000 after buying an additional 5,953 shares during the last quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. boosted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 14.0% during the first quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. now owns 6,101,501 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $2,962,767,000 after acquiring an additional 748,076 shares during the period. Finally, ERn Financial LLC grew its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 59.0% during the first quarter. ERn Financial LLC now owns 1,652 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $802,000 after acquiring an additional 613 shares during the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently weighed in on META. Monness Crespi & Hardt lifted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $570.00 to $620.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $575.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. JMP Securities raised their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $635.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 26th. Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $600.00 target price on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday, September 26th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on Meta Platforms from $565.00 to $600.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, thirty-five have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $598.08.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Meta Platforms news, COO Javier Olivan sold 413 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $570.00, for a total value of $235,410.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 12,359 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,044,630. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other Meta Platforms news, COO Javier Olivan sold 413 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, September 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $570.00, for a total value of $235,410.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 12,359 shares in the company, valued at $7,044,630. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Christopher K. Cox sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, September 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $569.93, for a total transaction of $5,699,300.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 328,662 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $187,314,333.66. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 308,462 shares of company stock valued at $162,308,065. Company insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Stock Down 0.6 %

Shares of META opened at $572.81 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.45 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.90, a PEG ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 1.21. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 52 week low of $279.40 and a 52 week high of $583.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a quick ratio of 2.83 and a current ratio of 2.83. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $521.88 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $501.35.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 31st. The social networking company reported $5.16 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.70 by $0.46. The firm had revenue of $39.07 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $38.26 billion. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 34.16% and a net margin of 34.34%. The company’s revenue was up 22.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $3.23 earnings per share. On average, analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 21.36 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed 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 of this dividend was Monday, September 16th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.35%. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is presently 11.49%.

About Meta Platforms

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.