Blue Trust Inc. Boosts Position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Blue Trust Inc. raised its stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 81.7% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 23,650 shares of the social networking company’s stock after purchasing an additional 10,636 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc.’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $13,538,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. IFG Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 3.2% during the third quarter. IFG Advisors LLC now owns 2,264 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $1,296,000 after purchasing an additional 70 shares in the last quarter. Mogy Joel R Investment Counsel Inc. grew its stake in Meta Platforms by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. Mogy Joel R Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 96,339 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $55,148,000 after buying an additional 500 shares during the last quarter. Riverview Trust Co increased its position in Meta Platforms by 1.3% during the third quarter. Riverview Trust Co now owns 3,058 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $1,751,000 after buying an additional 40 shares during the period. Moss Adams Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in Meta Platforms by 5.8% during the third quarter. Moss Adams Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 7,759 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $4,442,000 after buying an additional 427 shares during the period. Finally, Generate Investment Management Ltd boosted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 43.0% in the third quarter. Generate Investment Management Ltd now owns 116,059 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $66,437,000 after acquiring an additional 34,874 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Trading Down 0.1 %

Shares of META stock opened at $576.47 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $1.46 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.11, a PEG ratio of 1.45 and a beta of 1.22. The company has a current ratio of 2.83, a quick ratio of 2.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $546.53 and a 200 day moving average price of $508.76. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a twelve month low of $279.40 and a twelve month high of $602.95.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 31st. The social networking company reported $5.16 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.70 by $0.46. The business had revenue of $39.07 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $38.26 billion. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 34.34% and a return on equity of 34.16%. The company’s revenue was up 22.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $3.23 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 21.37 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed 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 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 11.49%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

META has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $575.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Barclays increased their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $520.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $600.00 price objective on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday, September 26th. TD Cowen lifted their target price on Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $675.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Pivotal Research began coverage on Meta Platforms in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. They issued a “buy” rating and a $780.00 target price on the stock. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, thirty-five have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Meta Platforms currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $617.37.

Insider Activity at Meta Platforms

In other Meta Platforms news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 492 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $600.75, for a total value of $295,569.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 518,508 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $311,493,681. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 901 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $451.15, for a total transaction of $406,486.15. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 33,324 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $15,034,122.60. This 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. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 492 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction on Monday, October 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $600.75, for a total transaction of $295,569.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 518,508 shares in the company, valued at approximately $311,493,681. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 250,816 shares of company stock worth $132,421,828. 13.71% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.