Lord Abbett & CO. LLC Has $350.91 Million Stock Position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Lord Abbett & CO. LLC increased its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 613,015 shares of the social networking company’s stock after purchasing an additional 6,249 shares during the period. Meta Platforms makes up 1.1% of Lord Abbett & CO. LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 11th biggest holding. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $350,914,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. JDM Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the third quarter worth approximately $30,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC bought a new position in Meta Platforms during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $36,000. POM Investment Strategies LLC acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $38,000. Halpern Financial Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the 3rd quarter valued at $46,000. Finally, West Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the third quarter worth $49,000. 79.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Meta Platforms Stock Down 1.7 %

NASDAQ META opened at $620.35 on Friday. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1 year low of $328.64 and a 1 year high of $638.40. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.57 trillion, a PE ratio of 29.22, a PEG ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 1.20. 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 $583.97 and its 200 day moving average is $537.42.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The social networking company reported $6.03 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.19 by $0.84. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 35.55% and a return on equity of 35.60%. The business had revenue of $40.59 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $40.21 billion. Sell-side analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 22.68 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 27th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 16th will be given a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 16th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.32%. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is 9.42%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Meta Platforms news, insider Christopher K. Cox sold 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $557.52, for a total transaction of $11,150,400.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 338,662 shares in the company, valued at approximately $188,810,838.24. This trade represents a 5.58 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 35,921 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $633.25, for a total value of $22,746,973.25. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 214,002 shares of company stock worth $126,740,653. Company insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

META has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Hsbc Global Res upgraded shares of Meta Platforms to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Barclays upped their target price on Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $630.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Citigroup raised their target price on Meta Platforms from $645.00 to $705.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Bank of America increased their price target on Meta Platforms from $630.00 to $660.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Raymond James reiterated a “strong-buy” rating and set a $675.00 target price on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Monday, November 25th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, thirty-five have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $635.20.

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.