Townsend Asset Management Corp NC ADV Raises Holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Townsend Asset Management Corp NC ADV increased its stake in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 6.4% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,095 shares of the social networking company’s stock after acquiring an additional 66 shares during the period. Townsend Asset Management Corp NC ADV’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $627,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

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

Meta Platforms Trading Down 3.1 %

META stock opened at $563.69 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 2.83, a current ratio of 2.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. The company has a market cap of $1.43 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.38, a PEG ratio of 1.45 and a beta of 1.22. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $548.79 and a 200-day simple moving average of $509.61. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 52 week low of $279.40 and a 52 week high of $602.95.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The social networking company reported $5.16 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.70 by $0.46. The company 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 firm’s revenue was up 22.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $3.23 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 21.37 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 given a dividend of $0.50 per share. 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 dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 11.49%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

META has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Needham & Company LLC restated an “underperform” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Wednesday, September 4th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $475.00 to $525.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $670.00 target price on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Roth Mkm boosted their price target on Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $620.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 11th. Finally, Wolfe Research assumed coverage on Meta Platforms in a research note on Tuesday, July 16th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $620.00 price objective for the company. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, thirty-five have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Meta Platforms has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $619.20.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Susan J. Li sold 33,018 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $517.94, for a total value of $17,101,342.92. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other Meta Platforms news, CFO Susan J. Li sold 33,018 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $517.94, for a total value of $17,101,342.92. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 412 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $521.48, for a total transaction of $214,849.76. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 5,147 shares in the company, valued at $2,684,057.56. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 249,912 shares of company stock worth $132,027,612 over the last ninety days. 13.71% of the stock is owned by company 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.