Ingalls & Snyder LLC Raises Stock Holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Ingalls & Snyder LLC grew its position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 0.1% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 49,165 shares of the social networking company’s stock after acquiring an additional 44 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms comprises 1.1% of Ingalls & Snyder LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 16th largest position. Ingalls & Snyder LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $28,144,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Jennison Associates LLC lifted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.9% in the third quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 14,440,868 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $8,266,531,000 after acquiring an additional 263,063 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.9% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 13,827,565 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $7,915,451,000 after purchasing an additional 118,298 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 57,001.5% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 9,517,111 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $5,447,975,000 after purchasing an additional 9,500,444 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 2.8% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 7,754,450 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $3,911,029,000 after purchasing an additional 208,677 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 4.6% in the third quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 6,565,134 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $3,758,146,000 after purchasing an additional 289,207 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

NASDAQ:META traded up $1.50 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $594.33. 1,022,314 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 14,804,930. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $575.21 and its 200-day moving average is $528.08. The stock has a market cap of $1.50 trillion, a P/E ratio of 27.92, a P/E/G ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a current ratio of 2.73 and a quick ratio of 2.73. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1-year low of $313.66 and a 1-year high of $602.95.

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

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Meta Platforms

In other news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 492 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, October 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $600.75, for a total transaction of $295,569.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 518,508 shares in the company, valued at $311,493,681. This trade represents a 0.09 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 413 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, September 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $522.00, for a total value of $215,586.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 13,598 shares in the company, valued at $7,098,156. This trade represents a 2.95 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 105,334 shares of company stock worth $59,210,941. 13.71% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently commented on META. JMP Securities increased their price target on Meta Platforms from $635.00 to $660.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Loop Capital increased their price target on Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $575.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 6th. Barclays raised their target price on Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $630.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Tigress Financial raised their target price on Meta Platforms from $575.00 to $645.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 16th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on 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 equities 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. According to MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $634.71.

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.