Stephens Inc. AR Acquires 5,760 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Stephens Inc. AR lifted its holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 8.0% in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 77,493 shares of the social networking company’s stock after buying an additional 5,760 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms comprises 0.6% of Stephens Inc. AR’s portfolio, making the stock its 29th biggest holding. Stephens Inc. AR’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $44,360,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in META. Delos Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Meta Platforms by 527.3% during the 1st 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 bought a new stake in Meta Platforms during the 2nd quarter worth about $38,000. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. raised its holdings 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 worth $40,000 after purchasing an additional 44 shares during the last quarter. Halpern Financial Inc. bought a new stake in Meta Platforms during the 3rd quarter worth about $46,000. Finally, West Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the 3rd quarter worth about $49,000. 79.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Peggy Alford sold 1,052 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $479.00, for a total value of $503,908.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 6,168 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,954,472. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In related news, Director Peggy Alford sold 1,052 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $479.00, for a total value of $503,908.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 6,168 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,954,472. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 420 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $600.17, for a total value of $252,071.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 518,004 shares in the company, valued at approximately $310,890,460.68. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 251,092 shares of company stock worth $132,865,496. Company insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Stock Down 0.1 %

META opened at $567.16 on Monday. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $308.33 and a fifty-two week high of $602.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a quick ratio of 2.83 and a current ratio of 2.73. The company has a market capitalization of $1.43 trillion, a P/E ratio of 26.72, a P/E/G ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 1.22. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $555.99 and a 200-day moving average of $513.25.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The social networking company reported $6.03 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 company had revenue of $40.59 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $40.21 billion. On average, equities analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 21.84 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced 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. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.35%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 16th. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is currently 9.42%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

META has been the subject of several analyst reports. Needham & Company LLC restated an “underperform” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on Meta Platforms from $525.00 to $530.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $675.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Tigress Financial boosted their target price on Meta Platforms from $575.00 to $645.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 16th. Finally, Citigroup boosted their target price on Meta Platforms from $645.00 to $705.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, thirty-five have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Meta Platforms has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $634.10.

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.