Nixon Peabody Trust Co. Increases Holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Nixon Peabody Trust Co. grew its holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 28.1% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 15,636 shares of the social networking company’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,434 shares during the period. Nixon Peabody Trust Co.’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $8,951,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its stake in Meta Platforms by 57,001.5% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 9,517,111 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $5,447,975,000 after buying an additional 9,500,444 shares during the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors increased its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 14.5% in the 1st quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 34,597,001 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $16,799,612,000 after acquiring an additional 4,379,826 shares during the period. Sustainable Growth Advisers LP acquired a new stake in Meta Platforms during the 2nd quarter worth $595,152,000. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board grew its position in Meta Platforms by 30.0% during the 1st quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 3,411,009 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $1,656,318,000 after purchasing an additional 788,131 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund increased its stake in Meta Platforms by 926.6% in the second quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund now owns 733,358 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $369,774,000 after purchasing an additional 661,923 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on META shares. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $675.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Scotiabank lowered their target price on Meta Platforms from $585.00 to $583.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Mizuho upped their price target on Meta Platforms from $650.00 to $675.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. JMP Securities boosted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $635.00 to $660.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Monness Crespi & Hardt raised their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $620.00 to $660.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, thirty-five have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $634.10.

Meta Platforms Stock Down 0.4 %

META opened at $563.09 on Friday. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $572.05 and its 200 day simple moving average is $523.31. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 52 week low of $313.66 and a 52 week high of $602.95. The firm has a market cap of $1.42 trillion, a P/E ratio of 26.52, a PEG ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.22. The company has a quick ratio of 2.73, a current ratio of 2.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last released its quarterly 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. The company had revenue of $40.59 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $40.21 billion. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 35.55% and a return on equity of 35.60%. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 22.53 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 26th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 16th were issued a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 16th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.36%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 9.42%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 16,702 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $520.48, for a total transaction of $8,693,056.96. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 2,657 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,382,915.36. This represents a 86.28 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CFO Susan J. Li sold 33,018 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $517.94, for a total transaction of $17,101,342.92. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 168,843 shares of company stock valued at $92,083,554 in the last quarter. 13.71% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.