Atom Investors LP Boosts Holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Atom Investors LP increased its position in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 25.9% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 5,262 shares of the social networking company’s stock after buying an additional 1,081 shares during the quarter. Atom Investors LP’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $3,012,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. POM Investment Strategies LLC purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the second quarter worth $38,000. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 122.2% during the 2nd 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 during the period. Halpern Financial Inc. acquired a new position in Meta Platforms in the 3rd quarter valued at about $46,000. West Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms during the third quarter worth about $49,000. Finally, NewSquare Capital LLC lifted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 221.9% during the second quarter. NewSquare Capital LLC now owns 103 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $52,000 after purchasing an additional 71 shares in the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Meta Platforms Stock Up 3.2 %

META opened at $592.83 on Tuesday. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 52 week low of $313.66 and a 52 week high of $602.95. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $575.21 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $528.08. The company has a quick ratio of 2.73, a current ratio of 2.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18. The company has a market cap of $1.50 trillion, a PE ratio of 27.92, a P/E/G ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 1.22.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The social networking company reported $6.03 earnings per share (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 business had revenue of $40.59 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $40.21 billion. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 22.62 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 26th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 16th were paid a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.34%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 16th. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 9.42%.

Insider Activity

In other news, COO Javier Olivan sold 413 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $522.00, for a total value of $215,586.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 13,598 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,098,156. This trade represents a 2.95 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 84 shares of the company’s 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 518,424 shares in the company, valued at $311,054,400. This represents a 0.02 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 105,334 shares of company stock valued at $59,210,941 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

META has been the subject of a number of research reports. Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $575.00 to $650.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Raymond James restated a “strong-buy” rating and issued a $675.00 price target on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Monday, November 25th. Roth Mkm increased their price objective on Meta Platforms from $620.00 to $635.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on Meta Platforms from $525.00 to $530.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, UBS Group increased their price target on Meta Platforms from $690.00 to $719.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Two research 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 given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $634.71.

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.