Capital Investment Counsel LLC Boosts Position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Capital Investment Counsel LLC raised its stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 17.2% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 559 shares of the social networking company’s stock after buying an additional 82 shares during the period. Capital Investment Counsel LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $320,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in META. POM Investment Strategies LLC purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms in the second quarter worth about $38,000. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 44 shares during the period. Halpern Financial Inc. bought a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the third quarter valued at approximately $46,000. West Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Meta Platforms during the third quarter valued at approximately $49,000. Finally, NewSquare Capital LLC raised its stake in Meta Platforms by 221.9% in the second quarter. NewSquare Capital LLC now owns 103 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $52,000 after buying an additional 71 shares in the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Meta Platforms

In other news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $507.63, for a total transaction of $459,405.15. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 37,817 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $19,197,043.71. The trade was a 2.34 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 84 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $600.00, for a total transaction of $50,400.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 518,424 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $311,054,400. This trade represents a 0.02 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 118,218 shares of company stock valued at $65,819,414 in the last three months. 13.71% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

META opened at $565.11 on Tuesday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $573.38 and a 200 day moving average price of $525.35. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1 year low of $313.66 and a 1 year high of $602.95. The stock has a market cap of $1.43 trillion, a P/E ratio of 26.62, 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 current ratio of 2.73 and a quick ratio of 2.73.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last posted 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $40.21 billion. Equities research analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 22.62 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

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 of this dividend was Monday, September 16th. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 9.42%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

META has been the topic of several recent research reports. Susquehanna increased their target price on Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $675.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $570.00 target price on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $600.00 price target on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday, September 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $640.00 to $660.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Raymond James reissued a “strong-buy” rating and set a $675.00 target price on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Monday. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, thirty-five have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $634.71.

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.