Baltimore Washington Financial Advisors Inc. Purchases 1,940 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Baltimore Washington Financial Advisors Inc. grew its position in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 4.1% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 49,657 shares of the social networking company’s stock after buying an additional 1,940 shares during the period. Meta Platforms makes up 1.5% of Baltimore Washington Financial Advisors Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 21st biggest position. Baltimore Washington Financial Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $28,426,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of META. Jennison Associates LLC increased its stake in Meta Platforms by 1.9% during the 3rd quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 14,440,868 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $8,266,531,000 after acquiring an additional 263,063 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position 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 worth $7,915,451,000 after purchasing an additional 118,298 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its stake in 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 in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in Meta Platforms by 2.8% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 7,754,450 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $3,911,029,000 after purchasing an additional 208,677 shares during the period. Finally, Swiss National Bank grew its stake in Meta Platforms by 0.3% during the third quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 6,504,600 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $3,723,493,000 after buying an additional 17,100 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Meta Platforms

In other news, CFO Susan J. Li sold 8,951 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $577.16, for a total transaction of $5,166,159.16. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 51,591 shares in the company, valued at $29,776,261.56. The trade was a 14.78 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Aaron Anderson sold 731 shares of the firm’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 trade represents a 17.64 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 118,218 shares of company stock valued at $65,819,414. Corporate insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Raymond James reaffirmed a “strong-buy” rating and set a $675.00 price target on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Monday. Piper Sandler upped their target price on Meta Platforms from $575.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Guggenheim raised their target price on Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $665.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, October 7th. Roth Mkm boosted their price target on Meta Platforms from $620.00 to $635.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Truist Financial raised their price objective on Meta Platforms from $570.00 to $650.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Two investment 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 assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $634.71.

Meta Platforms Stock Up 1.1 %

Shares of NASDAQ:META opened at $565.11 on Tuesday. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1 year low of $313.66 and a 1 year high of $602.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a current ratio of 2.73 and a quick ratio of 2.73. The business’s 50-day moving average is $573.38 and its 200-day moving average is $525.35. The company has a market capitalization of $1.43 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.62, a P/E/G ratio of 1.23 and a beta of 1.22.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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 firm had revenue of $40.59 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $40.21 billion. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 35.60% and a net margin of 35.55%. Equities research analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 22.62 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 26th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 16th were issued a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.35%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 16th. Meta Platforms’s 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.