Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) Shares Bought by Empirical Finance LLC

Empirical Finance LLC grew its position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 1.9% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 80,516 shares of the social networking company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,472 shares during the period. Meta Platforms accounts for approximately 2.7% of Empirical Finance LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 5th largest position. Empirical Finance LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $46,091,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. POM Investment Strategies LLC purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the 2nd quarter valued at $38,000. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. boosted its stake in Meta Platforms by 122.2% in the second quarter. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. now owns 80 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $40,000 after acquiring an additional 44 shares in the last quarter. Halpern Financial Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the third quarter worth about $46,000. West Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the third quarter worth about $49,000. Finally, NewSquare Capital LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 221.9% in the 2nd quarter. NewSquare Capital LLC now owns 103 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $52,000 after purchasing an additional 71 shares during the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have commented on META shares. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $570.00 price target on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Bank of America upped their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $630.00 to $660.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Monness Crespi & Hardt raised their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $620.00 to $660.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed an “underperform” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Oppenheimer increased their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $525.00 to $615.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, thirty-five have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $634.10.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

NASDAQ:META opened at $554.40 on Tuesday. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12-month low of $313.66 and a 12-month high of $602.95. The firm has a market cap of $1.40 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.23 and a beta of 1.22. The company’s 50-day moving average is $569.10 and its two-hundred day moving average is $521.96. 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 announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The social networking company reported $6.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.19 by $0.84. The business 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 35.60%. Research analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 22.53 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 26th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 16th were issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.36%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 16th. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 9.42%.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 901 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $567.70, for a total transaction of $511,497.70. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 30,581 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $17,360,833.70. The trade was a 2.86 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 84 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 518,424 shares in the company, valued at $311,054,400. This trade represents a 0.02 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 140,593 shares of company stock valued at $75,253,970 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

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.