Quest Partners LLC Purchases 3,693 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Quest Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 923.3% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 4,093 shares of the social networking company’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,693 shares during the quarter. Quest Partners LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $2,343,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of META. POM Investment Strategies LLC purchased a new position in Meta Platforms in the 2nd quarter worth about $38,000. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. increased its stake in Meta Platforms by 122.2% in the 2nd quarter. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. now owns 80 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $40,000 after buying an additional 44 shares during the period. Halpern Financial Inc. purchased a new position in Meta Platforms in the 3rd quarter worth about $46,000. West Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Meta Platforms in the 3rd quarter worth about $49,000. Finally, NewSquare Capital LLC increased its stake in Meta Platforms by 221.9% in the 2nd quarter. NewSquare Capital LLC now owns 103 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $52,000 after buying an additional 71 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Meta Platforms

In other news, CAO Aaron Anderson sold 731 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $557.00, for a total value of $407,167.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 3,414 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,901,598. This represents a 17.64 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 413 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $536.92, for a total value of $221,747.96. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 14,424 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,744,534.08. The trade was a 2.78 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 185,958 shares of company stock valued at $101,181,747 over the last three months. 13.71% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

Shares of Meta Platforms stock opened at $565.52 on Thursday. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a one year low of $313.66 and a one year high of $602.95. The company has a market cap of $1.43 trillion, a PE ratio of 26.64, a P/E/G ratio of 1.23 and a beta of 1.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a quick ratio of 2.73 and a current ratio of 2.73. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $571.30 and a 200-day simple moving average of $523.03.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The social networking company reported $6.03 EPS 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 business had revenue of $40.59 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $40.21 billion. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 22.53 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 26th. Investors of record on Monday, September 16th were issued a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.35%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 16th. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 9.42%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on META. Loop Capital raised their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $575.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 6th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $675.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $605.00 to $630.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Sanford C. Bernstein lifted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $675.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, October 25th. Finally, Citigroup lifted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $645.00 to $705.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Two 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 assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $634.10.

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.