WCM Investment Management LLC Has $10.56 Million Stock Position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

WCM Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 13.0% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 18,609 shares of the social networking company’s stock after buying an additional 2,139 shares during the quarter. WCM Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $10,558,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in META. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 48.8% during the 1st quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 49,191 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $23,886,000 after acquiring an additional 16,138 shares in the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC raised its stake in Meta Platforms by 22.4% in the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 67,195 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $32,629,000 after purchasing an additional 12,301 shares in the last quarter. Cypress Asset Management Inc. TX grew its position in Meta Platforms by 541.8% in the first quarter. Cypress Asset Management Inc. TX now owns 3,819 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $1,862,000 after acquiring an additional 3,224 shares during the last quarter. Bell Investment Advisors Inc grew its position in Meta Platforms by 2.4% in the first quarter. Bell Investment Advisors Inc now owns 1,345 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $653,000 after acquiring an additional 31 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Constellation Investimentos e Participacoes Ltda bought a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the first quarter worth about $631,000. Institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Meta Platforms news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 901 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $567.70, for a total value of $511,497.70. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 30,581 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $17,360,833.70. This represents a 2.86 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 16,702 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $526.94, for a total value of $8,800,951.88. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 46,292 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $24,393,106.48. The trade was a 26.51 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 158,200 shares of company stock worth $84,533,106. 13.71% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have issued reports on the company. Tigress Financial boosted their price target on Meta Platforms from $575.00 to $645.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 16th. Scotiabank dropped their price target on Meta Platforms from $585.00 to $583.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Pivotal Research lifted their price target on Meta Platforms from $780.00 to $800.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Citigroup boosted their target price on Meta Platforms from $645.00 to $705.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on Meta Platforms from $555.00 to $636.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, October 14th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, thirty-five have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $634.10.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

NASDAQ:META opened at $577.16 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $565.83 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $518.72. The company has a current ratio of 2.73, a quick ratio of 2.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18. The company has a market capitalization of $1.46 trillion, a P/E ratio of 27.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 1.22. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a twelve month low of $313.66 and a twelve month high of $602.95.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The social networking company reported $6.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $40.21 billion. As a group, research analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 22.53 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 26th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 16th were issued 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 dividend yield of 0.35%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is 9.42%.

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.