Metis Global Partners LLC Grows Position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Metis Global Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 1.9% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 122,996 shares of the social networking company’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,345 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms makes up approximately 2.2% of Metis Global Partners LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 7th biggest position. Metis Global Partners LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $70,408,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased 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. Capital Research Global Investors grew its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 14.5% in the 1st 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 acquiring an additional 4,379,826 shares in the last quarter. Sustainable Growth Advisers LP acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the second quarter valued at about $595,152,000. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Meta Platforms by 0.4% during the first 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board boosted its position in Meta Platforms by 30.0% during the first quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 3,411,009 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $1,656,318,000 after purchasing an additional 788,131 shares during the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently commented on META. Tigress Financial increased their price objective on Meta Platforms from $575.00 to $645.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 16th. Roth Mkm lifted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $620.00 to $635.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $652.00 to $641.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 1st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price target on Meta Platforms from $525.00 to $585.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, Benchmark reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. Two equities 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 assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $634.10.

Insider Transactions at Meta Platforms

In other 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 value of $478,183.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 40,532 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $21,416,298.16. This represents a 2.18 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Christopher K. Cox sold 20,000 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $557.52, for a total transaction of $11,150,400.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 338,662 shares in the company, valued at approximately $188,810,838.24. This represents a 5.58 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 141,498 shares of company stock worth $75,732,154. Corporate insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

Meta Platforms stock opened at $554.08 on Monday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $568.11 and a 200-day moving average of $521.17. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.40 trillion, a P/E ratio of 26.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.23 and a beta of 1.22. 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, Inc. has a 52 week low of $313.66 and a 52 week high of $602.95.

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

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 26th. Shareholders 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.36%. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is presently 9.42%.

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.