Pittenger & Anderson Inc. Purchases 3,714 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Pittenger & Anderson Inc. lifted its holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 10.1% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 40,576 shares of the social networking company’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,714 shares during the period. Pittenger & Anderson Inc.’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $23,227,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in META. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.4% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 187,180,393 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $90,891,055,000 after acquiring an additional 831,047 shares during the period. Capital World Investors grew its holdings in Meta Platforms by 0.6% during the first quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 38,299,316 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $18,597,382,000 after purchasing an additional 244,803 shares during the period. Capital Research Global Investors grew its holdings in Meta Platforms by 14.5% during the first 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 purchasing an additional 4,379,826 shares during the period. GQG Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 3.1% in the first quarter. GQG Partners LLC now owns 11,497,335 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $5,582,876,000 after buying an additional 342,742 shares during the period. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 57,001.5% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 9,517,111 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $5,447,975,000 after buying an additional 9,500,444 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Meta Platforms

In related news, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 5,057 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $526.76, for a total transaction of $2,663,825.32. Following the transaction, the chief technology officer now directly owns 11,990 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,315,852.40. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other news, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 5,057 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $526.76, for a total value of $2,663,825.32. Following the transaction, the chief technology officer now directly owns 11,990 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,315,852.40. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 84 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, October 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $600.00, for a total value of $50,400.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 518,424 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $311,054,400. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 228,118 shares of company stock valued at $121,237,935. Company insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Stock Down 0.4 %

Shares of NASDAQ META opened at $589.34 on Friday. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 52-week low of $313.66 and a 52-week high of $602.95. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.49 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.76, a PEG ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.22. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $560.42 and a 200 day moving average price of $515.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a quick ratio of 2.73 and a current ratio of 2.73.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The social networking company reported $6.03 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.19 by $0.84. The business had revenue of $40.59 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $40.21 billion. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 35.60% and a net margin of 35.55%. Sell-side analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 22.53 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced 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. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.34%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 16th. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 9.42%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. KeyCorp increased their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $560.00 to $655.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Bank of America lifted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $630.00 to $660.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Tigress Financial increased their price target on Meta Platforms from $575.00 to $645.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 16th. Needham & Company LLC restated an “underperform” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein increased their target price on Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $675.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, thirty-five have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $634.10.

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.