Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) Shares Purchased by Cerity Partners LLC

Cerity Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 30.7% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 748,222 shares of the social networking company’s stock after purchasing an additional 175,683 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms makes up approximately 0.9% of Cerity Partners LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 15th largest position. Cerity Partners LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $428,312,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its stake 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 worth $23,886,000 after buying an additional 16,138 shares in the last quarter. Cypress Asset Management Inc. TX raised its holdings in Meta Platforms by 541.8% in the 1st 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 during the last quarter. Waverly Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Meta Platforms by 70.4% in the 1st quarter. Waverly Advisors LLC now owns 12,663 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $6,149,000 after purchasing an additional 5,230 shares in the last quarter. Industrial Alliance Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 8.5% during the 1st quarter. Industrial Alliance Investment Management Inc. now owns 5,873 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $2,852,000 after purchasing an additional 461 shares during the last quarter. Finally, In Depth Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 2.8% in the first quarter. In Depth Partners LLC now owns 28,841 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $14,005,000 after purchasing an additional 780 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on META shares. Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $575.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $590.00 to $663.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, October 14th. UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $690.00 to $719.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $652.00 to $641.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $555.00 to $636.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, October 14th. Two research 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 assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $634.10.

Insider Buying and Selling at Meta Platforms

In other news, CFO Susan J. Li sold 33,018 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $517.94, for a total transaction of $17,101,342.92. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of the firm’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 approximately $19,197,043.71. The trade was a 2.34 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 152,141 shares of company stock valued at $83,390,497 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Trading Down 0.7 %

META opened at $559.14 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $1.41 trillion, a P/E ratio of 26.34, a PEG ratio of 1.25 and a beta of 1.22. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a one year low of $313.66 and a one year high of $602.95. 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’s 50-day simple moving average is $572.74 and its 200-day simple moving average is $524.71.

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

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

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

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.