Bleakley Financial Group LLC Has $35.63 Million Position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Bleakley Financial Group LLC raised its position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 1.2% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 62,237 shares of the social networking company’s stock after purchasing an additional 738 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms accounts for approximately 1.1% of Bleakley Financial Group LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 17th biggest holding. Bleakley Financial Group LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $35,627,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Capital Research Global Investors lifted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 14.5% during 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. Jennison Associates LLC lifted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 24.7% during the 1st quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 13,867,398 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $6,733,731,000 after buying an additional 2,748,620 shares during the last quarter. Sustainable Growth Advisers LP acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the 2nd quarter worth about $595,152,000. Global Assets Advisory LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the 1st quarter worth about $515,383,000. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of 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 worth $90,891,055,000 after buying an additional 831,047 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Meta Platforms

In other Meta Platforms news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $489.80, for a total value of $443,269.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 35,130 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $17,206,674. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other Meta Platforms news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $489.80, for a total value of $443,269.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 35,130 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $17,206,674. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Susan J. Li sold 33,018 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $517.94, for a total transaction of $17,101,342.92. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 250,816 shares of company stock valued at $132,421,828. Corporate insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have weighed in on META shares. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $475.00 to $525.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Loop Capital lifted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $575.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 6th. Sanford C. Bernstein lifted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $565.00 to $575.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, July 22nd. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $565.00 to $600.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $570.00 price objective on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Two investment 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 issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $617.37.

Meta Platforms Stock Up 0.0 %

Shares of NASDAQ META opened at $576.93 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $1.46 trillion, a PE ratio of 33.14, a P/E/G ratio of 1.45 and a beta of 1.22. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12-month low of $279.40 and a 12-month high of $602.95. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $545.36 and its 200 day simple moving average is $508.09. The company has a quick ratio of 2.83, a current ratio of 2.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The social networking company reported $5.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.70 by $0.46. The business had revenue of $39.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $38.26 billion. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 34.34% and a return on equity of 34.16%. Meta Platforms’s revenue was up 22.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $3.23 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 21.37 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 26th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 16th were paid a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.35%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 16th. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 11.49%.

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.