Moran Wealth Management LLC Increases Stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Moran Wealth Management LLC grew its position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 29,908 shares of the social networking company’s stock after buying an additional 106 shares during the period. Moran Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $17,121,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in META. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its position in Meta Platforms by 57,001.5% in 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 acquiring an additional 9,500,444 shares in the last quarter. Sustainable Growth Advisers LP bought a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the second quarter valued at $595,152,000. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund boosted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 926.6% during the second 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 buying an additional 661,923 shares during the last quarter. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Meta Platforms in the 2nd quarter worth about $285,690,000. Finally, Strategic Financial Concepts LLC raised its position in Meta Platforms by 56,892.0% in the 2nd quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC now owns 564,221 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $2,845,000 after buying an additional 563,231 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on META. Loop Capital raised their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $575.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 6th. Raymond James lifted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $670.00 price target on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $600.00 price target on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday, September 26th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on Meta Platforms from $590.00 to $663.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, October 14th. 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. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $634.10.

Insider Activity at Meta Platforms

In other Meta Platforms news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 16,702 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $520.48, for a total transaction of $8,693,056.96. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,657 shares in the company, valued at $1,382,915.36. This represents a 86.28 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 620 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $557.00, for a total value of $345,340.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 19,992 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,135,544. This trade represents a 3.01 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 168,843 shares of company stock valued at $92,083,554. Insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

Shares of Meta Platforms stock opened at $559.14 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $1.41 trillion, a PE ratio of 26.34, a PEG ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.22. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $572.74 and a 200 day moving average of $523.96. 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, Inc. has a 12 month low of $313.66 and a 12 month high of $602.95.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last posted 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. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 35.60% and a net margin of 35.55%. The firm had revenue of $40.59 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $40.21 billion. On average, research analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 22.53 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.36%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 16th. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is 9.42%.

Meta Platforms Company 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.