Bay Rivers Group Grows Stock Position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Bay Rivers Group grew its position in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 0.9% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 10,276 shares of the social networking company’s stock after acquiring an additional 91 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms makes up 2.9% of Bay Rivers Group’s holdings, making the stock its 9th largest holding. Bay Rivers Group’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $5,883,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its stake in Meta Platforms by 57,001.5% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 9,517,111 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $5,447,975,000 after buying an additional 9,500,444 shares in the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors increased its stake in Meta Platforms by 14.5% in the 1st quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 34,597,001 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $16,799,612,000 after buying an additional 4,379,826 shares in the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC grew its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 24.7% during the first quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 13,867,398 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $6,733,731,000 after purchasing an additional 2,748,620 shares in the last quarter. Sustainable Growth Advisers LP purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the second quarter valued at about $595,152,000. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.4% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 187,180,393 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $90,891,055,000 after purchasing an additional 831,047 shares in the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Meta Platforms Trading Down 0.1 %

Shares of META opened at $567.16 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a current ratio of 2.83 and a quick ratio of 2.83. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12 month low of $308.33 and a 12 month high of $602.95. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $555.99 and its two-hundred day moving average is $513.03. The stock has a market cap of $1.43 trillion, a PE ratio of 26.72, a P/E/G ratio of 1.44 and a beta of 1.22.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The social networking company reported $6.03 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.19 by $0.84. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 36.26% and a net margin of 35.55%. The business had revenue of $40.59 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $40.21 billion. Equities analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 21.47 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 26th. Investors of record on Monday, September 16th were paid a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.35%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 16th. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 9.42%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on Meta Platforms from $652.00 to $641.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday. Needham & Company LLC reissued an “underperform” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday. Pivotal Research lifted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $780.00 to $800.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday. KeyCorp lifted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $560.00 to $655.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Finally, Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $600.00 price objective on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday, September 26th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, thirty-five have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Meta Platforms presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $634.10.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 420 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $600.17, for a total value of $252,071.40. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 518,004 shares in the company, valued at approximately $310,890,460.68. 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 can be accessed through this link. In related news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 901 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $451.15, for a total value of $406,486.15. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 33,324 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $15,034,122.60. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 420 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $600.17, for a total value of $252,071.40. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 518,004 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $310,890,460.68. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 251,993 shares of company stock worth $133,271,982. 13.71% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.