Claro Advisors LLC Grows Stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Claro Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 18.2% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 16,966 shares of the social networking company’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,613 shares during the period. Meta Platforms makes up about 1.3% of Claro Advisors LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 14th biggest holding. Claro Advisors LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $9,712,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in META. WIM INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $1,488,000. Concord Asset Management LLC VA increased its stake in Meta Platforms by 13.9% during the 3rd quarter. Concord Asset Management LLC VA now owns 13,508 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $7,733,000 after purchasing an additional 1,653 shares in the last quarter. Peterson Financial Group Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the third quarter worth $70,000. Tower Bridge Advisors lifted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 2.1% during the third quarter. Tower Bridge Advisors now owns 17,839 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $10,212,000 after buying an additional 361 shares during the period. Finally, Adero Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 3.0% during the third quarter. Adero Partners LLC now owns 17,517 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $10,027,000 after buying an additional 503 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Meta Platforms

In other news, insider Christopher K. Cox sold 20,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 338,662 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $188,810,838.24. The trade was a 5.58 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Susan J. Li sold 33,018 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $517.94, for a total value of $17,101,342.92. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 185,958 shares of company stock valued at $101,181,747. 13.71% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Meta Platforms Stock Up 1.2 %

Shares of NASDAQ META opened at $561.09 on Wednesday. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 52-week low of $313.66 and a 52-week high of $602.95. The business’s 50 day moving average is $570.23 and its two-hundred day moving average is $522.73. The firm has a market cap of $1.42 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.43, a PEG ratio of 1.23 and a beta of 1.22. The company has a quick ratio of 2.73, a current ratio of 2.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The social networking company reported $6.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 analyst estimates of $40.21 billion. Research analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 22.53 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 26th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 16th were given a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 16th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.36%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is presently 9.42%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have commented on META shares. TD Cowen lifted their price target on Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $675.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $600.00 target price on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday, September 26th. Citigroup increased their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $645.00 to $705.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $590.00 to $663.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, October 14th. Finally, Scotiabank dropped their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $585.00 to $583.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, thirty-five have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus 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.