Meridian Management Co. Boosts Stock Holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Meridian Management Co. raised its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 4.4% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 13,164 shares of the social networking company’s stock after purchasing an additional 553 shares during the period. Meta Platforms comprises 1.9% of Meridian Management Co.’s portfolio, making the stock its 14th largest holding. Meridian Management Co.’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $7,535,000 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. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in Meta Platforms by 0.4% during the 1st 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 during the period. Capital World Investors grew its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.6% in the 1st quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 38,299,316 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $18,597,382,000 after buying an additional 244,803 shares during the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors grew its position in shares of 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 during the last quarter. GQG Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 3.1% in the 1st quarter. GQG Partners LLC now owns 11,497,335 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $5,582,876,000 after buying an additional 342,742 shares during the last quarter. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its position in shares of 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 during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on 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 $19,197,043.71. This represents a 2.34 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Christopher K. Cox sold 20,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $557.52, for a total transaction of $11,150,400.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 338,662 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $188,810,838.24. The trade was a 5.58 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 158,200 shares of company stock valued at $84,533,106. 13.71% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on META. Mizuho lifted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $650.00 to $675.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Tigress Financial lifted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $575.00 to $645.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 16th. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $600.00 price objective on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday, September 26th. JMP Securities lifted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $635.00 to $660.00 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $652.00 to $641.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Two research 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 given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $634.10.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ META opened at $554.08 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $1.40 trillion, a PE ratio of 26.10, a PEG ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.22. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $568.11 and a 200 day moving average of $519.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a quick ratio of 2.73 and a current ratio of 2.73. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a one year low of $313.66 and a one year high of $602.95.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last issued 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. The company had revenue of $40.59 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 22.53 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

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