Albert D Mason Inc. Raises Stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Albert D Mason Inc. boosted its stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 1.6% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,440 shares of the social networking company’s stock after acquiring an additional 54 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms comprises about 1.3% of Albert D Mason Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 18th largest holding. Albert D Mason Inc.’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $1,969,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Central Valley Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. Central Valley Advisors LLC now owns 5,714 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $3,271,000 after acquiring an additional 18 shares in the last quarter. Cherrydale Wealth Management LLC raised its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. Cherrydale Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,841 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $2,199,000 after acquiring an additional 18 shares in the last quarter. Alliance Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.7% during the 3rd quarter. Alliance Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,787 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $1,595,000 after acquiring an additional 18 shares in the last quarter. Kozak & Associates Inc. raised its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.0% during the 3rd quarter. Kozak & Associates Inc. now owns 1,906 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $1,099,000 after acquiring an additional 18 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Firethorn Wealth Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.8% during the 3rd quarter. Firethorn Wealth Partners LLC now owns 1,075 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $615,000 after acquiring an additional 19 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 84 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $600.00, for a total value of $50,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 518,424 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $311,054,400. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, COO Javier Olivan sold 412 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $521.48, for a total value of $214,849.76. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 5,147 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,684,057.56. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 84 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $600.00, for a total value of $50,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 518,424 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $311,054,400. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 250,817 shares of company stock valued at $132,547,715. Corporate insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Trading Up 0.7 %

NASDAQ:META opened at $567.78 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 2.83, a current ratio of 2.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1-year low of $279.40 and a 1-year high of $602.95. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.44 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.45 and a beta of 1.22. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $549.53 and a 200 day simple moving average of $509.99.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The social networking company reported $5.16 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.70 by $0.46. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 34.16% and a net margin of 34.34%. The business had revenue of $39.07 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $38.26 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $3.23 EPS. Meta Platforms’s revenue for the quarter was up 22.1% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 21.37 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 26th. Investors of record on Monday, September 16th were paid a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.35%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 16th. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is currently 11.49%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently issued reports on META. Needham & Company LLC reissued an “underperform” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Wednesday, September 4th. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $600.00 target price on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday, September 26th. Mizuho increased their target price on Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Robert W. Baird increased their target price on Meta Platforms from $530.00 to $605.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 26th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $575.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, thirty-five have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $619.20.

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.