Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) Shares Acquired by Chase Investment Counsel Corp

Chase Investment Counsel Corp lifted its stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 8.3% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 18,662 shares of the social networking company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,435 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms accounts for 3.6% of Chase Investment Counsel Corp’s portfolio, making the stock its 2nd largest position. Chase Investment Counsel Corp’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $10,682,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 48.8% in the first quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 49,191 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $23,886,000 after purchasing an additional 16,138 shares in the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC increased its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 22.4% during the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 67,195 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $32,629,000 after acquiring an additional 12,301 shares during the period. Cypress Asset Management Inc. TX raised its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 541.8% in the first quarter. Cypress Asset Management Inc. TX now owns 3,819 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $1,862,000 after acquiring an additional 3,224 shares in the last quarter. Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC boosted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 3.1% in the first quarter. Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC now owns 11,273 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $5,474,000 after purchasing an additional 337 shares during the period. Finally, Delos Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in Meta Platforms by 527.3% during the 1st quarter. Delos Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 69 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 58 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

Shares of META stock opened at $554.08 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 2.73, a quick ratio of 2.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $568.11 and a 200-day simple moving average of $520.60. The company has a market cap of $1.40 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.22. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12-month low of $313.66 and a 12-month high of $602.95.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 firm had revenue of $40.59 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $40.21 billion. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 35.60% and a net margin of 35.55%. On average, equities analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 22.53 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 26th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 16th were given a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 16th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.36%. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is currently 9.42%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Meta Platforms

In related news, COO Javier Olivan sold 413 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $567.58, for a total value of $234,410.54. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 10,294 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,842,668.52. This represents a 3.86 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $507.63, for a total transaction of $459,405.15. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 37,817 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $19,197,043.71. The trade was a 2.34 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 158,200 shares of company stock valued at $84,533,106. Corporate insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have issued reports on META. Raymond James lifted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $650.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $640.00 to $660.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $600.00 price target on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday, September 26th. Hsbc Global Res raised Meta Platforms to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, Benchmark reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. Two investment 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 given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $634.10.

Meta Platforms Company 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.