Peregrine Asset Advisers Inc. Has $5.37 Million Stock Holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Peregrine Asset Advisers Inc. grew its stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 702.9% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 9,378 shares of the social networking company’s stock after acquiring an additional 8,210 shares during the period. Meta Platforms accounts for approximately 1.9% of Peregrine Asset Advisers Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 13th biggest holding. Peregrine Asset Advisers Inc.’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $5,368,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of META. Kennebec Savings Bank bought a new position in Meta Platforms in the 3rd quarter valued at about $971,000. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC lifted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 8.4% during the 3rd quarter. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC now owns 12,490 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $7,150,000 after purchasing an additional 966 shares during the last quarter. Stockman Wealth Management Inc. bought a new stake in Meta Platforms in the 3rd quarter valued at $226,000. River Global Investors LLP grew its holdings in Meta Platforms by 1.3% in the 3rd quarter. River Global Investors LLP now owns 24,993 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $14,305,000 after buying an additional 313 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mitchell Mcleod Pugh & Williams Inc. increased its position in Meta Platforms by 4.2% during the 3rd quarter. Mitchell Mcleod Pugh & Williams Inc. now owns 3,719 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $2,129,000 after buying an additional 150 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Meta Platforms

In related news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $528.38, for a total transaction of $478,183.90. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 40,532 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $21,416,298.16. This represents a 2.18 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 16,702 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $526.94, for a total value of $8,800,951.88. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 46,292 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $24,393,106.48. This trade represents a 26.51 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 158,200 shares of company stock valued at $84,533,106. 13.71% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Meta Platforms Trading Down 0.5 %

NASDAQ:META opened at $577.16 on Friday. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 52 week low of $313.66 and a 52 week high of $602.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a quick ratio of 2.73 and a current ratio of 2.73. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $565.83 and its 200-day moving average is $518.72. The firm has a market cap of $1.46 trillion, a P/E ratio of 27.19, a P/E/G ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 1.22.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The social networking company reported $6.03 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.19 by $0.84. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 35.55% and a return on equity of 35.60%. The business had revenue of $40.59 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $40.21 billion. Equities 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 issued a $0.50 dividend. 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 payout ratio is currently 9.42%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently commented on META. Pivotal Research upped their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $780.00 to $800.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $570.00 target price on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday, August 1st. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on Meta Platforms from $555.00 to $636.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, October 14th. Monness Crespi & Hardt raised their price objective on Meta Platforms from $620.00 to $660.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Evercore ISI upped their target price on Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $600.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, thirty-five have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target 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.