Clean Yield Group Acquires 54 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Clean Yield Group boosted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 90.0% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 114 shares of the social networking company’s stock after purchasing an additional 54 shares during the period. Clean Yield Group’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $65,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in META. Capital Research Global Investors raised its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 14.5% in the 1st quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 34,597,001 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $16,799,612,000 after purchasing an additional 4,379,826 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 186,349,346 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $65,960,215,000 after purchasing an additional 3,104,550 shares during the period. Jennison Associates LLC lifted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 24.7% during the 1st quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 13,867,398 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $6,733,731,000 after buying an additional 2,748,620 shares in the last quarter. Sustainable Growth Advisers LP bought a new stake in Meta Platforms during the 2nd quarter valued at $595,152,000. Finally, Global Assets Advisory LLC bought a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the first quarter valued at approximately $515,383,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Meta Platforms

In related news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $578.55, for a total value of $523,587.75. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 35,102 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,308,262.10. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, CFO Susan J. Li sold 33,018 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $517.94, for a total value of $17,101,342.92. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $578.55, for a total transaction of $523,587.75. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 35,102 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,308,262.10. 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 282,621 shares of company stock worth $148,657,449 in the last three months. Insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

META has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $660.00 target price on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Monday. Raymond James raised their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $600.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, July 1st. Monness Crespi & Hardt boosted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $570.00 to $620.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, September 30th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $525.00 to $585.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, Tigress Financial increased their target price 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. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, thirty-five have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Meta Platforms has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $601.08.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

META stock traded up $3.06 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $587.84. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 764,797 shares, compared to its average volume of 15,429,681. The company has a quick ratio of 2.83, a current ratio of 2.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. The company has a 50 day moving average of $529.45 and a two-hundred day moving average of $503.17. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12 month low of $279.40 and a 12 month high of $602.95. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.49 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 1.22.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The social networking company reported $5.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.70 by $0.46. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 34.34% and a return on equity of 34.16%. The company had revenue of $39.07 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $38.26 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $3.23 EPS. Meta Platforms’s revenue for the quarter was up 22.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 21.36 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 26th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 16th were given 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 currently 11.49%.

Meta Platforms 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.