Voya Financial Advisors Inc. Purchases 152 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Voya Financial Advisors Inc. increased its stake in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 1.8% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 8,773 shares of the social networking company’s stock after purchasing an additional 152 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms makes up 0.5% of Voya Financial Advisors Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 16th biggest position. Voya Financial Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $4,977,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of META. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 57,001.5% during the 3rd 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. Integrated Investment Consultants LLC increased its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 61,769.3% during the 3rd quarter. Integrated Investment Consultants LLC now owns 4,132,870 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $2,365,820,000 after purchasing an additional 4,126,190 shares during the last quarter. Sustainable Growth Advisers LP bought a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $595,152,000. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund increased its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 926.6% during the 2nd quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund now owns 733,358 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $369,774,000 after purchasing an additional 661,923 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Strategic Financial Concepts LLC increased its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 56,892.0% during the 2nd quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC now owns 564,221 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $2,845,000 after purchasing an additional 563,231 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Stock Down 0.8 %

Shares of META opened at $608.93 on Friday. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12 month low of $317.04 and a 12 month high of $619.90. The firm has a market cap of $1.54 trillion, a P/E ratio of 28.68, a PEG ratio of 1.35 and a beta of 1.20. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $578.51 and its two-hundred day moving average is $531.05. The company has a current ratio of 2.73, a quick ratio of 2.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last released its earnings results 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 business 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%. Analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 22.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 27th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 16th will be given a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.33%. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is currently 9.42%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Meta Platforms

In other news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $595.00, for a total transaction of $538,475.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 36,535 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $21,738,325. This represents a 2.42 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 35,921 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $607.97, for a total transaction of $21,838,890.37. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 142,160 shares of company stock valued at $81,611,223 over the last 90 days. 13.71% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

META has been the topic of several analyst reports. Rosenblatt Securities reissued a “buy” rating and set a $811.00 target price on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. JMP Securities upped their price objective on Meta Platforms from $635.00 to $660.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on Meta Platforms from $525.00 to $530.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Bank of America upped their target price on Meta Platforms from $630.00 to $660.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $675.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, thirty-five have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $634.71.

About Meta Platforms

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.