Atom Investors LP Grows Position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Atom Investors LP raised its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 25.9% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 5,262 shares of the social networking company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,081 shares during the period. Atom Investors LP’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $3,012,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Cullinan Associates Inc. raised its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 47.2% in the 2nd quarter. Cullinan Associates Inc. now owns 26,963 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $13,595,000 after acquiring an additional 8,647 shares in the last quarter. Albion Financial Group UT raised its holdings in Meta Platforms by 9.3% in the second quarter. Albion Financial Group UT now owns 1,122 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $566,000 after purchasing an additional 95 shares in the last quarter. NBC Securities Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 7.6% in the 2nd quarter. NBC Securities Inc. now owns 7,432 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $3,747,000 after buying an additional 525 shares in the last quarter. Greenfield Savings Bank grew its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.1% in the 2nd quarter. Greenfield Savings Bank now owns 5,897 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $2,973,000 after buying an additional 65 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Northside Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 4.7% during the 2nd quarter. Northside Capital Management LLC now owns 420,646 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $212,098,000 after acquiring an additional 18,852 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Meta Platforms

In related news, CAO Aaron Anderson sold 731 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $557.00, for a total transaction of $407,167.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 3,414 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,901,598. This represents a 17.64 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CFO Susan J. Li sold 8,951 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $577.16, for a total transaction of $5,166,159.16. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 51,591 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $29,776,261.56. The trade was a 14.78 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 105,334 shares of company stock valued at $59,210,941 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on META shares. Sanford C. Bernstein raised their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $675.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Scotiabank lowered their price objective on Meta Platforms from $585.00 to $583.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on Meta Platforms from $652.00 to $641.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Mizuho increased their price target on Meta Platforms from $650.00 to $675.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, TD Cowen boosted their price target on Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $675.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, thirty-five have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $634.71.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ META opened at $592.83 on Tuesday. 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 firm has a fifty day moving average of $575.21 and a 200 day moving average of $528.08. The firm has a market cap of $1.50 trillion, a PE ratio of 27.92, a PEG ratio of 1.27 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.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The social networking company reported $6.03 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.19 by $0.84. The business had revenue of $40.59 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $40.21 billion. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 35.55% and a return on equity of 35.60%. As a group, research analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 22.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 26th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 16th were given a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 16th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.34%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 9.42%.

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.