WD Rutherford LLC Grows Position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

WD Rutherford LLC boosted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 31.3% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 4,920 shares of the social networking company’s stock after buying an additional 1,172 shares during the period. WD Rutherford LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $2,816,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Avitas Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in Meta Platforms by 13.1% during the 3rd quarter. Avitas Wealth Management LLC now owns 23,591 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $13,504,000 after buying an additional 2,730 shares in the last quarter. Childress Capital Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.7% in the third quarter. Childress Capital Advisors LLC now owns 8,017 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $4,589,000 after purchasing an additional 55 shares in the last quarter. Highview Capital Management LLC DE increased its position in Meta Platforms by 3.9% in the third quarter. Highview Capital Management LLC DE now owns 5,971 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $3,418,000 after purchasing an additional 226 shares during the last quarter. Lodestar Private Asset Management LLC raised its stake in Meta Platforms by 3.7% during the third quarter. Lodestar Private Asset Management LLC now owns 2,541 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $1,455,000 after purchasing an additional 90 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Better Money Decisions LLC lifted its position in Meta Platforms by 93.5% during the third quarter. Better Money Decisions LLC now owns 1,035 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $593,000 after purchasing an additional 500 shares during the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

Shares of META stock opened at $567.16 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $1.43 trillion, a P/E ratio of 26.72, a PEG ratio of 1.44 and a beta of 1.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a current ratio of 2.83 and a quick ratio of 2.83. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $555.99 and its 200 day moving average is $513.03. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1-year low of $308.33 and a 1-year high of $602.95.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The social networking company reported $6.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.19 by $0.84. The firm had revenue of $40.59 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $40.21 billion. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 35.55% and a return on equity of 36.26%. Research analysts predict 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. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 16th were given a dividend of $0.50 per share. 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 payout ratio is presently 9.42%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 84 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, October 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $600.00, for a total transaction of $50,400.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 518,424 shares in the company, valued at $311,054,400. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other Meta Platforms news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 84 shares of the firm’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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 518,424 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $311,054,400. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 901 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $451.15, for a total transaction of $406,486.15. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 33,324 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,034,122.60. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 251,993 shares of company stock worth $133,271,982. Insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on META shares. Rosenblatt Securities restated a “buy” rating and issued a $811.00 target price on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday. Pivotal Research upped their price objective on Meta Platforms from $780.00 to $800.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday. Truist Financial raised their price objective on Meta Platforms from $570.00 to $650.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Hsbc Global Res raised Meta Platforms to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, TD Cowen raised their price target on Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $675.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, thirty-five have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Meta Platforms currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $634.10.

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.