Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) Stock Position Boosted by Hartline Investment Corp

Hartline Investment Corp grew its stake in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 14.7% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 28,237 shares of the social networking company’s stock after buying an additional 3,610 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms comprises 2.0% of Hartline Investment Corp’s holdings, making the stock its 15th biggest position. Hartline Investment Corp’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $16,164,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. LS Investment Advisors LLC lifted its position in Meta Platforms by 111.4% in the third quarter. LS Investment Advisors LLC now owns 11,679 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $6,686,000 after purchasing an additional 6,155 shares during the period. Gradient Investments LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 8.9% in the second quarter. Gradient Investments LLC now owns 72,587 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $36,600,000 after buying an additional 5,953 shares during the period. Cutter & CO Brokerage Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.7% in the third quarter. Cutter & CO Brokerage Inc. now owns 9,735 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $5,573,000 after buying an additional 65 shares during the period. Stanley Laman Group Ltd. grew its holdings in Meta Platforms by 26.5% during the second quarter. Stanley Laman Group Ltd. now owns 1,678 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $846,000 after acquiring an additional 352 shares during the period. Finally, Janney Montgomery Scott LLC raised its position in Meta Platforms by 1.4% in the third quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 412,046 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $235,872,000 after acquiring an additional 5,594 shares in the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Meta Platforms

In other Meta Platforms news, insider Christopher K. Cox sold 20,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $557.52, for a total value of $11,150,400.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 338,662 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $188,810,838.24. The trade was a 5.58 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 $21,416,298.16. The trade was a 2.18 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 158,200 shares of company stock worth $84,533,106. 13.71% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

NASDAQ META opened at $554.08 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $568.11 and a 200 day simple moving average of $520.60. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a twelve month low of $313.66 and a twelve month high of $602.95. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.40 trillion, a PE ratio of 26.10, a P/E/G ratio of 1.28 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 (NASDAQ:META) last issued its quarterly 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 company had revenue of $40.59 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $40.21 billion. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 35.60% and a net margin of 35.55%. Research analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 22.53 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 26th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 16th were issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 16th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.36%. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is 9.42%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently commented on META. Susquehanna boosted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $675.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Pivotal Research increased their price objective on Meta Platforms from $780.00 to $800.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Evercore ISI lifted their target price on Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $600.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Citigroup increased their price target on Meta Platforms from $645.00 to $705.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $555.00 to $636.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, October 14th. Two investment 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average 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.