Howard Financial Services LTD. Raises Stock Holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Howard Financial Services LTD. raised its position in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 5.2% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,024 shares of the social networking company’s stock after buying an additional 51 shares during the quarter. Howard Financial Services LTD.’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $586,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of META. Delos Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in 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 buying an additional 58 shares during the last quarter. POM Investment Strategies LLC bought a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the second quarter valued at $38,000. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. raised its position 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 purchasing an additional 44 shares during the last quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. boosted its stake in Meta Platforms by 95.6% in the 1st quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. now owns 88 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $41,000 after purchasing an additional 43 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Kathleen S. Wright Associates Inc. purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms during the 1st quarter valued at about $44,000. Institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

META has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Monness Crespi & Hardt lifted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $570.00 to $620.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, September 30th. Guggenheim boosted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $665.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday. Oppenheimer upped their price objective on Meta Platforms from $525.00 to $615.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Susquehanna lifted their target price on Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $600.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price target on Meta Platforms from $525.00 to $585.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, thirty-five have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $601.08.

Meta Platforms Stock Up 0.1 %

Shares of META stock opened at $593.69 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $1.51 trillion, a P/E ratio of 34.05, a PEG ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 1.22. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $532.05 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $503.76. The company has a quick ratio of 2.83, a current ratio of 2.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 52 week low of $279.40 and a 52 week high of $602.95.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last posted its earnings results 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. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 34.16% and a net margin of 34.34%. The company had revenue of $39.07 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $38.26 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $3.23 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 22.1% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 21.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 26th. Investors of record on Monday, September 16th were given a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 16th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.34%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is currently 11.49%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 150 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $500.49, for a total value of $75,073.50. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 124,387 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $62,254,449.63. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In related news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 150 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $500.49, for a total transaction of $75,073.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 124,387 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $62,254,449.63. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CFO Susan J. Li sold 8,950 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $526.76, for a total transaction of $4,714,502.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 74,579 shares in the company, valued at $39,285,234.04. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 266,332 shares of company stock valued at $139,981,833 over the last ninety days. 13.71% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.