ERTS Wealth Advisors LLC Has $998,000 Holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

ERTS Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 1.1% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 1,743 shares of the social networking company’s stock after buying an additional 19 shares during the period. ERTS Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $998,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Central Valley Advisors LLC increased its position in Meta Platforms by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. Central Valley Advisors LLC now owns 5,714 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $3,271,000 after buying an additional 18 shares during the period. Cherrydale Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.5% in the third quarter. Cherrydale Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,841 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $2,199,000 after acquiring an additional 18 shares in the last quarter. Alliance Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in Meta Platforms by 0.7% during the third quarter. Alliance Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,787 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $1,595,000 after acquiring an additional 18 shares during the period. Kozak & Associates Inc. raised its stake in Meta Platforms by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter. Kozak & Associates Inc. now owns 1,906 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $1,099,000 after purchasing an additional 18 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Firethorn Wealth Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 1.8% in the 3rd quarter. Firethorn Wealth Partners LLC now owns 1,075 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $615,000 after purchasing an additional 19 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

Shares of META stock opened at $576.47 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.46 trillion, a PE ratio of 33.11, a PEG ratio of 1.45 and a beta of 1.22. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $546.53 and its 200 day simple moving average is $508.76. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a current ratio of 2.83 and a quick ratio of 2.83. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a one year low of $279.40 and a one year high of $602.95.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 31st. The social networking company reported $5.16 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.70 by $0.46. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 34.34% and a return on equity of 34.16%. The company had revenue of $39.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $38.26 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $3.23 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 22.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 21.37 earnings per share 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 issued 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 0.35%. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is currently 11.49%.

Insider Activity

In related 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 transaction of $75,073.50. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 124,387 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $62,254,449.63. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other Meta Platforms news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 150 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction on Friday, August 2nd. The shares were 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 approximately $62,254,449.63. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Susan J. Li sold 8,950 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $526.76, for a total transaction of $4,714,502.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 74,579 shares in the company, valued at $39,285,234.04. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 250,816 shares of company stock valued at $132,421,828 in the last ninety days. 13.71% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $580.00 to $645.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, September 23rd. Wolfe Research began coverage on Meta Platforms in a report on Tuesday, July 16th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $620.00 price objective for the company. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on Meta Platforms from $555.00 to $636.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, October 14th. Tigress Financial raised their price target on Meta Platforms from $575.00 to $645.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 16th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $570.00 price objective on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, thirty-five have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $617.37.

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.