Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) Stock Position Raised by Colonial River Investments LLC

Colonial River Investments LLC lifted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 10.0% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 6,878 shares of the social networking company’s stock after purchasing an additional 624 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms makes up 2.0% of Colonial River Investments LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 8th largest position. Colonial River Investments LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $3,937,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its stake 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 worth $23,886,000 after acquiring an additional 16,138 shares during the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC boosted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 22.4% during the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 67,195 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $32,629,000 after acquiring an additional 12,301 shares during the last quarter. Cypress Asset Management Inc. TX grew its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 541.8% during the first quarter. Cypress Asset Management Inc. TX now owns 3,819 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $1,862,000 after purchasing an additional 3,224 shares in the last quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 5.5% in the first quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 381,805 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $185,397,000 after purchasing an additional 19,886 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Roffman Miller Associates Inc. PA raised its stake in Meta Platforms by 1.3% in the first quarter. Roffman Miller Associates Inc. PA now owns 5,418 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $2,631,000 after purchasing an additional 71 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

META has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Sanford C. Bernstein lifted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $675.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, October 25th. Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on Meta Platforms from $605.00 to $630.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. DA Davidson assumed coverage on Meta Platforms in a research report on Tuesday, September 10th. They set a “buy” rating and a $600.00 price objective on the stock. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $600.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $575.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, thirty-five have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $634.10.

Meta Platforms Stock Down 0.8 %

META stock opened at $580.00 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 2.73, a current ratio of 2.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18. The business has a 50 day moving average of $564.48 and a 200 day moving average of $518.29. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a twelve month low of $313.66 and a twelve month high of $602.95. The firm has a market cap of $1.46 trillion, a PE ratio of 27.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 1.22.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The social networking company reported $6.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 business had revenue of $40.59 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $40.21 billion. On average, research analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 22.53 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 26th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 16th were paid a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 16th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.34%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is presently 9.42%.

Insider Activity

In other Meta Platforms news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $532.21, for a total value of $481,650.05. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 41,437 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $22,053,185.77. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction on Friday, August 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $532.21, for a total transaction of $481,650.05. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 41,437 shares in the company, valued at $22,053,185.77. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 84 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, October 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $600.00, for a total value of $50,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 518,424 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $311,054,400. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 175,807 shares of company stock valued at $93,851,617 over the last three months. Insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

About Meta Platforms

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.