Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC Has $6.22 Million Position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 26.1% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 10,858 shares of the social networking company’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,248 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms makes up about 0.7% of Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 21st largest position. Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $6,216,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Gradient Investments LLC raised its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 8.9% during the second quarter. Gradient Investments LLC now owns 72,587 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $36,600,000 after purchasing an additional 5,953 shares during the period. Baillie Gifford & Co. grew 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 during the period. ERn Financial LLC increased its stake in Meta Platforms by 59.0% during the 1st quarter. ERn Financial LLC now owns 1,652 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $802,000 after purchasing an additional 613 shares in the last quarter. Stanley Laman Group Ltd. raised its holdings in Meta Platforms by 26.5% during the second quarter. Stanley Laman Group Ltd. now owns 1,678 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $846,000 after buying an additional 352 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Lincoln National Corp lifted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 7.8% in the first quarter. Lincoln National Corp now owns 34,790 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $16,894,000 after buying an additional 2,504 shares in the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Meta Platforms Trading Down 0.1 %

Shares of META stock opened at $576.47 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.46 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.11, a PEG ratio of 1.45 and a beta of 1.22. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $546.53 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $508.76. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1 year low of $279.40 and a 1 year high of $602.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a current ratio of 2.83 and a quick ratio of 2.83.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 return on equity of 34.16% and a net margin of 34.34%. The company had revenue of $39.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $38.26 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $3.23 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 22.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 21.37 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

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 $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.35%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 16th. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is 11.49%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on META shares. Tigress Financial boosted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $575.00 to $645.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 16th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $565.00 to $600.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Robert W. Baird raised their target price on Meta Platforms from $530.00 to $605.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, September 26th. Rosenblatt Securities upped their price target on Meta Platforms from $643.00 to $811.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, September 26th. Finally, Raymond James increased their price target on Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $650.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, thirty-five have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $617.37.

Insider Activity

In other Meta Platforms news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $489.80, for a total value of $443,269.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 35,130 shares in the company, valued at $17,206,674. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 84 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 518,424 shares in the company, valued at $311,054,400. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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 company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $489.80, for a total value of $443,269.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 35,130 shares in the company, valued at $17,206,674. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 250,816 shares of company stock worth $132,421,828. 13.71% of the stock is owned by company 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.