Focus Financial Network Inc. Increases Stock Holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Focus Financial Network Inc. boosted its position in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 2.7% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 9,521 shares of the social networking company’s stock after purchasing an additional 247 shares during the period. Focus Financial Network Inc.’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $5,450,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Gradient Investments LLC boosted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 8.9% during the 2nd quarter. Gradient Investments LLC now owns 72,587 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $36,600,000 after acquiring an additional 5,953 shares during the period. Baillie Gifford & Co. raised its position in Meta Platforms by 14.0% in the 1st quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. now owns 6,101,501 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $2,962,767,000 after purchasing an additional 748,076 shares in the last quarter. Stanley Laman Group Ltd. raised its position in Meta Platforms by 26.5% in the 2nd quarter. Stanley Laman Group Ltd. now owns 1,678 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $846,000 after purchasing an additional 352 shares in the last quarter. Cutter & CO Brokerage Inc. raised its position in Meta Platforms by 0.7% in the 3rd quarter. Cutter & CO Brokerage Inc. now owns 9,735 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $5,573,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Lincoln National Corp raised its position in Meta Platforms by 7.8% in the 1st quarter. Lincoln National Corp now owns 34,790 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $16,894,000 after purchasing an additional 2,504 shares in the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Meta Platforms Stock Down 0.1 %

Meta Platforms stock opened at $567.16 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a current ratio of 2.73 and a quick ratio of 2.83. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1-year low of $308.33 and a 1-year high of $602.95. The company has a market cap of $1.43 trillion, a PE ratio of 26.72, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 1.22. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $555.99 and its 200 day moving average price is $513.25.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The social networking company reported $6.03 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.19 by $0.84. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 35.60% and a net margin of 35.55%. The firm had revenue of $40.59 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $40.21 billion. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 21.84 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 26th. Investors of record on Monday, September 16th were paid a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 16th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.35%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 9.42%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on META shares. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on Meta Platforms from $652.00 to $641.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on Meta Platforms from $525.00 to $530.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday. Hsbc Global Res raised Meta Platforms to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on Meta Platforms from $555.00 to $636.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, October 14th. Finally, Mizuho raised their target price on Meta Platforms from $650.00 to $675.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday. 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.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $634.10.

Insider Activity at Meta Platforms

In other Meta Platforms news, CFO Susan J. Li sold 8,950 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $526.76, for a total transaction of $4,714,502.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 74,579 shares in the company, valued at approximately $39,285,234.04. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other Meta Platforms news, CFO Susan J. Li sold 33,018 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $517.94, for a total transaction of $17,101,342.92. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Susan J. Li sold 8,950 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $526.76, for a total value of $4,714,502.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 74,579 shares in the company, valued at approximately $39,285,234.04. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 251,092 shares of company stock worth $132,865,496 over the last three months. 13.71% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.