Intelligence Driven Advisers LLC Increases Holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Intelligence Driven Advisers LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 5.4% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 2,537 shares of the social networking company’s stock after purchasing an additional 131 shares during the period. Intelligence Driven Advisers LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $1,452,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the business. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 48.8% during the 1st quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 49,191 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $23,886,000 after acquiring an additional 16,138 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC grew its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 22.4% during the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 67,195 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $32,629,000 after acquiring an additional 12,301 shares during the period. Cypress Asset Management Inc. TX boosted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 541.8% in the 1st quarter. Cypress Asset Management Inc. TX now owns 3,819 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $1,862,000 after purchasing an additional 3,224 shares in the last quarter. First Foundation Advisors boosted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 2.4% in the 1st quarter. First Foundation Advisors now owns 20,020 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $9,722,000 after purchasing an additional 472 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Councilmark Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the 1st quarter worth approximately $1,456,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Trading Down 4.0 %

Shares of META opened at $554.08 on Monday. The firm has a market cap 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 current ratio of 2.73 and a quick ratio of 2.73. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1 year low of $313.66 and a 1 year high of $602.95. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $568.11 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $521.17.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The social networking company reported $6.03 earnings per share (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 company had revenue of $40.59 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $40.21 billion. On average, equities analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 22.53 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared 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. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.36%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 16th. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is presently 9.42%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Meta Platforms

In other news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 901 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $567.70, for a total transaction of $511,497.70. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 30,581 shares in the company, valued at approximately $17,360,833.70. This represents a 2.86 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 16,702 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $531.46, for a total transaction of $8,876,444.92. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 11,384 shares in the company, valued at $6,050,140.64. This represents a 59.47 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 141,498 shares of company stock worth $75,732,154 in the last quarter. 13.71% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently commented on the company. Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their price target on Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $675.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th. JMP Securities upped their price objective on Meta Platforms from $635.00 to $660.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on Meta Platforms from $605.00 to $630.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. UBS Group upped their price objective on Meta Platforms from $690.00 to $719.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed an “underperform” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Two 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 company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $634.10.

Meta Platforms Company 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.