Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) Position Raised by American Trust

American Trust grew its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 112.1% in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 6,930 shares of the social networking company’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,663 shares during the quarter. American Trust’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $3,967,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.9% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 13,827,565 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $7,915,451,000 after purchasing an additional 118,298 shares during the period. LS Investment Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 111.4% during the 3rd quarter. LS Investment Advisors LLC now owns 11,679 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $6,686,000 after purchasing an additional 6,155 shares in the last quarter. Gradient Investments LLC grew its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 8.9% in the 2nd quarter. Gradient Investments LLC now owns 72,587 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $36,600,000 after purchasing an additional 5,953 shares during the last quarter. Cutter & CO Brokerage Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.7% in the 3rd quarter. Cutter & CO Brokerage Inc. now owns 9,735 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $5,573,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Stanley Laman Group Ltd. lifted its stake in Meta Platforms by 26.5% during the second quarter. Stanley Laman Group Ltd. now owns 1,678 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $846,000 after purchasing an additional 352 shares during the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

Meta Platforms stock opened at $630.79 on Friday. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 52 week low of $328.64 and a 52 week high of $638.40. The firm has a market cap of $1.59 trillion, a P/E ratio of 29.71, a P/E/G ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 1.20. 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 fifty day moving average is $583.48 and its two-hundred day moving average is $536.44.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The social networking company reported $6.03 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.19 by $0.84. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 35.55% and a return on equity of 35.60%. The company had revenue of $40.59 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $40.21 billion. Equities research analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 22.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 27th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 16th will be paid a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 16th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.32%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 9.42%.

Insider Transactions at Meta Platforms

In other news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $618.00, for a total transaction of $559,290.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 35,630 shares in the company, valued at $22,019,340. The trade was a 2.48 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 35,921 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $607.97, for a total transaction of $21,838,890.37. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 214,002 shares of company stock worth $126,740,653 over the last 90 days. 13.71% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

META has been the topic of several research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Meta Platforms from $640.00 to $660.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on Meta Platforms from $590.00 to $663.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, October 14th. Truist Financial lifted their price target on Meta Platforms from $570.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $652.00 to $641.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and set a $670.00 price target on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, thirty-five have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $635.20.

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.