Oak Ridge Investments LLC Grows Stock Position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Oak Ridge Investments LLC increased its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 7.4% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 76,615 shares of the social networking company’s stock after acquiring an additional 5,247 shares during the period. Meta Platforms comprises approximately 3.8% of Oak Ridge Investments LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 6th largest holding. Oak Ridge Investments LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $43,857,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Benchmark Financial Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in Meta Platforms by 1.6% in the 1st quarter. Benchmark Financial Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 3,269 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $1,587,000 after buying an additional 50 shares during the last quarter. Edge Financial Advisors LLC bought a new position in Meta Platforms in the 1st quarter valued at $270,000. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its position in Meta Platforms by 48.8% in the 1st quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 49,191 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $23,886,000 after buying an additional 16,138 shares during the last quarter. SeaBridge Investment Advisors LLC boosted its position in Meta Platforms by 234.1% in the 1st quarter. SeaBridge Investment Advisors LLC now owns 8,723 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $4,236,000 after buying an additional 6,112 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Diversify Advisory Services LLC bought a new position in Meta Platforms in the 1st quarter valued at $22,878,000. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ META opened at $567.16 on Monday. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $555.99 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $513.25. 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 company has a quick ratio of 2.83, a current ratio of 2.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a twelve month low of $308.33 and a twelve month high of $602.95.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last announced its quarterly 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. The firm had revenue of $40.59 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $40.21 billion. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 35.60% and a net margin of 35.55%. On average, analysts predict 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 given a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.35%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 16th. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is 9.42%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have commented on META shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Meta Platforms from $640.00 to $660.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $570.00 price objective on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on Meta Platforms from $590.00 to $663.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, October 14th. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $670.00 price target on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, Tigress Financial increased 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. Two research 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, Meta Platforms presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $634.10.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 492 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $600.75, for a total value of $295,569.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 518,508 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $311,493,681. This represents 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 related news, Director Peggy Alford sold 1,052 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 6,168 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,954,472. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 492 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $600.75, for a total value of $295,569.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 518,508 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $311,493,681. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 251,092 shares of company stock valued at $132,865,496. 13.71% of the stock is owned by 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.