Benjamin Edwards Inc. Increases Stock Holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Benjamin Edwards Inc. boosted its position in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 4,732.1% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 44,697 shares of the social networking company’s stock after buying an additional 43,772 shares during the quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc.’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $25,586,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Atom Investors LP grew its position in Meta Platforms by 25.9% in the third quarter. Atom Investors LP now owns 5,262 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $3,012,000 after acquiring an additional 1,081 shares during the period. Aureus Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 8.3% in the 3rd quarter. Aureus Asset Management LLC now owns 104,780 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $59,980,000 after purchasing an additional 8,007 shares during the last quarter. Avala Global LP grew its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 53.5% during the 3rd quarter. Avala Global LP now owns 47,900 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $27,420,000 after purchasing an additional 16,700 shares during the period. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the 3rd quarter worth about $26,163,000. Finally, Paradigm Capital Management LLC NV purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms in the 3rd quarter valued at about $581,000. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $520.00, for a total transaction of $470,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 38,722 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,135,440. This trade represents a 2.28 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CAO Aaron Anderson sold 731 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $557.00, for a total transaction of $407,167.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 3,414 shares in the company, valued at $1,901,598. This represents a 17.64 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 106,239 shares of company stock valued at $59,681,541. Insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

NASDAQ META opened at $574.32 on Monday. The company has a fifty day moving average of $575.21 and a two-hundred day moving average of $527.76. 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. The company has a market capitalization of $1.45 trillion, a PE ratio of 27.05, a P/E/G ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 1.22.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last released its quarterly 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 firm had revenue of $40.59 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $40.21 billion. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 35.60% and a net margin of 35.55%. As a group, analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 22.62 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 26th. Investors of record on Monday, September 16th were paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.35%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 16th. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is currently 9.42%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have weighed in on META shares. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $670.00 target price on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $555.00 to $636.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, October 14th. Tigress Financial boosted their target price on Meta Platforms from $575.00 to $645.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 16th. 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. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $525.00 to $530.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, thirty-five have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price 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.