IFM Investors Pty Ltd Increases Stock Holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

IFM Investors Pty Ltd raised its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 0.1% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 443,644 shares of the social networking company’s stock after purchasing an additional 564 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms accounts for 2.4% of IFM Investors Pty Ltd’s holdings, making the stock its 5th biggest holding. IFM Investors Pty Ltd’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $253,960,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in META. Gradient Investments LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 8.9% in the 2nd quarter. Gradient Investments LLC now owns 72,587 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $36,600,000 after buying an additional 5,953 shares during the period. Baillie Gifford & Co. raised its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 14.0% in the first quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. now owns 6,101,501 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $2,962,767,000 after acquiring an additional 748,076 shares in the last quarter. Stanley Laman Group Ltd. lifted its stake in Meta Platforms by 26.5% in 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. Lincoln National Corp grew its holdings in Meta Platforms by 7.8% during the 1st quarter. Lincoln National Corp now owns 34,790 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $16,894,000 after acquiring an additional 2,504 shares in the last quarter. Finally, BCGM Wealth Management LLC increased its position in Meta Platforms by 5.3% during the 1st quarter. BCGM Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,311 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $637,000 after purchasing an additional 66 shares during the period. 79.91% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Meta Platforms Stock Up 1.0 %

Shares of META stock opened at $573.25 on Friday. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a twelve month low of $279.40 and a twelve month high of $602.95. The stock has a market cap of $1.45 trillion, a P/E ratio of 29.26, a P/E/G ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.22. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $551.05 and a 200 day moving average of $510.72. The company has a current ratio of 2.83, a quick ratio of 2.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The social networking company reported $5.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.70 by $0.46. The firm had revenue of $39.07 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $38.26 billion. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 34.34% and a return on equity of 34.16%. The business’s revenue was up 22.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $3.23 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 21.44 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 26th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 16th were given a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.35%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 16th. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 10.21%.

Insider Activity at Meta Platforms

In other Meta Platforms news, COO Javier Olivan sold 412 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $521.48, for a total value of $214,849.76. Following 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 trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, COO Javier Olivan sold 412 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $521.48, for a total transaction of $214,849.76. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 5,147 shares in the company, valued at $2,684,057.56. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 84 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, October 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $600.00, for a total transaction 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. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 250,817 shares of company stock worth $132,547,715 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on META shares. Rosenblatt Securities increased their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $643.00 to $811.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 26th. Guggenheim lifted their price target on Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $665.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, October 7th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price objective on Meta Platforms from $525.00 to $585.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Scotiabank initiated coverage on Meta Platforms in a research note on Friday, October 11th. They issued a “sector perform” rating and a $585.00 target price on the stock. Finally, TD Cowen boosted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $675.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, thirty-five have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $621.63.

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.