Leavell Investment Management Inc. Has $5.16 Million Stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Leavell Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 7.5% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 9,009 shares of the social networking company’s stock after buying an additional 632 shares during the period. Leavell Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $5,157,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of META. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake 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 worth $90,891,055,000 after acquiring an additional 831,047 shares during the period. Capital World Investors raised its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.6% in 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 raised its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 14.5% in 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 boosted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 3.1% during the 1st 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 grew its stake in Meta Platforms by 57,001.5% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 9,517,111 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $5,447,975,000 after buying an additional 9,500,444 shares during the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Meta Platforms

In other Meta Platforms news, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 5,057 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the chief technology officer now owns 11,990 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,315,852.40. This 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 the SEC website. In related news, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 5,057 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the chief technology officer now directly owns 11,990 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,315,852.40. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 901 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $567.70, for a total value of $511,497.70. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 30,581 shares in the company, valued at approximately $17,360,833.70. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 211,416 shares of company stock worth $112,638,243. Insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have commented on META shares. Monness Crespi & Hardt upped their price objective on Meta Platforms from $620.00 to $660.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Scotiabank dropped their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $585.00 to $583.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Susquehanna raised their price objective on Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $675.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Loop Capital increased their target price on Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $575.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 6th. Finally, Tigress Financial upped their target price 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. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, thirty-five have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $634.10.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

NASDAQ:META opened at $583.17 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $563.02 and a 200 day moving average price of $517.29. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.47 trillion, a P/E ratio of 27.47, a P/E/G ratio of 1.30 and a beta of 1.22. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12-month low of $313.66 and a 12-month high of $602.95. The company has a current ratio of 2.73, a quick ratio of 2.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last posted its quarterly 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. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 35.60% and a net margin of 35.55%. The business had revenue of $40.59 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $40.21 billion. Equities research analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 22.53 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 26th. Investors of record on Monday, September 16th were paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 16th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.34%. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is 9.42%.

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.