Valley National Advisers Inc. Increases Stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Valley National Advisers Inc. increased its stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 21.0% in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 8,553 shares of the social networking company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,484 shares during the period. Meta Platforms accounts for about 0.9% of Valley National Advisers Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 19th largest position. Valley National Advisers Inc.’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $4,895,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Delos Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 527.3% in the first quarter. Delos Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 69 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 58 shares during the last quarter. POM Investment Strategies LLC purchased a new position in Meta Platforms during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $38,000. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. lifted its stake in Meta Platforms by 122.2% during the 2nd quarter. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. now owns 80 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $40,000 after acquiring an additional 44 shares during the period. Richardson Financial Services Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 95.6% in the 1st quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. now owns 88 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $41,000 after acquiring an additional 43 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Halpern Financial Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the third quarter worth $46,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Meta Platforms

In related news, COO Javier Olivan sold 413 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $574.16, for a total transaction of $237,128.08. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 10,707 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,147,531.12. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, COO Javier Olivan sold 413 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $574.16, for a total transaction of $237,128.08. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 10,707 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,147,531.12. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 492 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $600.75, for a total value of $295,569.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 518,508 shares in the company, valued at approximately $311,493,681. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 251,230 shares of company stock worth $132,784,843 over the last quarter. 13.71% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Meta Platforms Trading Up 2.6 %

Shares of META opened at $593.28 on Wednesday. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12-month low of $296.86 and a 12-month high of $602.95. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.50 trillion, a P/E ratio of 34.08, a P/E/G ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.22. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $553.36 and a 200 day moving average price of $511.61. 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 quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The social networking company reported $5.16 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.70 by $0.46. The business 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 for the quarter was up 22.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $3.23 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 21.44 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 26th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 16th were paid 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 yield of 0.34%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 11.49%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

META has been the topic of several recent research reports. Bank of America upped their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $563.00 to $630.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, September 26th. UBS Group raised their target price on Meta Platforms from $635.00 to $690.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, October 7th. Rosenblatt Securities boosted their price target on Meta Platforms from $643.00 to $811.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, September 26th. Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $580.00 to $645.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, September 23rd. Finally, TD Cowen boosted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $675.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, thirty-five have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Meta Platforms presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $621.63.

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.