Regent Peak Wealth Advisors LLC Boosts Stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Regent Peak Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 1.0% during the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 4,743 shares of the social networking company’s stock after buying an additional 46 shares during the quarter. Regent Peak Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $2,715,000 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 company. Baskin Financial Services Inc. lifted its position in Meta Platforms by 24.5% during the 3rd quarter. Baskin Financial Services Inc. now owns 940 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $538,000 after acquiring an additional 185 shares during the period. Transform Wealth LLC raised its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 75.2% in the third quarter. Transform Wealth LLC now owns 21,418 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $12,261,000 after purchasing an additional 9,194 shares during the last quarter. Sentinel Pension Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in Meta Platforms by 4.0% in the 3rd quarter. Sentinel Pension Advisors Inc. now owns 800 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $458,000 after buying an additional 31 shares during the period. Terra Nova Asset Management LLC raised its position in Meta Platforms by 1.0% during the 3rd quarter. Terra Nova Asset Management LLC now owns 4,244 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $2,430,000 after buying an additional 44 shares during the last quarter. Finally, McKinley Carter Wealth Services Inc. lifted its stake in Meta Platforms by 5.2% during the 3rd quarter. McKinley Carter Wealth Services Inc. now owns 5,859 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $3,354,000 after acquiring an additional 290 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Trading Down 1.6 %

Shares of NASDAQ META opened at $576.79 on Thursday. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $1.46 trillion, a PE ratio of 33.13, a PEG ratio of 1.45 and a beta of 1.22. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a twelve month low of $279.40 and a twelve month high of $602.95. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $544.01 and a 200-day simple moving average of $507.60.

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

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 26th. Investors of record on Monday, September 16th were paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.35%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 16th. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is currently 11.49%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Meta Platforms news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 84 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, October 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $600.00, for a total value of $50,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 518,424 shares in the company, valued at $311,054,400. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other Meta Platforms news, COO Javier Olivan sold 413 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $584.83, for a total value of $241,534.79. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 11,533 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,744,844.39. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. 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 business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $600.00, for a total value of $50,400.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 518,424 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $311,054,400. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 249,911 shares of company stock worth $131,887,905 in the last ninety days. 13.71% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently commented on the stock. Loop Capital upped their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $575.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 6th. DA Davidson began coverage on Meta Platforms in a research report on Tuesday, September 10th. They set a “buy” rating and a $600.00 price target on the stock. Truist Financial boosted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $570.00 to $650.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Barclays lifted their price target on Meta Platforms from $520.00 to $550.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, Citigroup upped their price objective on Meta Platforms from $580.00 to $645.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, September 23rd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, thirty-five have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $613.71.

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.