Vanderbilt University Purchases 1,160 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Vanderbilt University grew its position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 12.7% during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 10,329 shares of the social networking company’s stock after buying an additional 1,160 shares during the period. Meta Platforms accounts for about 1.1% of Vanderbilt University’s portfolio, making the stock its 11th largest position. Vanderbilt University’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $5,913,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of META. Welch Group LLC grew its stake in Meta Platforms by 9.1% during the 3rd quarter. Welch Group LLC now owns 14,411 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $8,250,000 after buying an additional 1,199 shares during the last quarter. Inscription Capital LLC grew its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 3.0% during the third quarter. Inscription Capital LLC now owns 6,255 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $3,581,000 after acquiring an additional 183 shares during the last quarter. Baker Tilly Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 20.4% during the third quarter. Baker Tilly Wealth Management LLC now owns 7,310 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $4,184,000 after acquiring an additional 1,238 shares in the last quarter. FCG Investment Co boosted its stake in Meta Platforms by 15.1% in the 3rd quarter. FCG Investment Co now owns 7,606 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $4,354,000 after purchasing an additional 995 shares in the last quarter. Finally, First American Bank grew its position in Meta Platforms by 0.9% during the 3rd quarter. First American Bank now owns 40,244 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $23,037,000 after purchasing an additional 365 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have issued reports on META. Sanford C. Bernstein raised their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $675.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, October 25th. Scotiabank began coverage on Meta Platforms in a research report on Friday, October 11th. They set a “sector perform” rating and a $585.00 price target for the company. JMP Securities increased their price objective on Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $635.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, September 26th. TD Cowen lifted their target price on Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $675.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, Bank of America increased their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $563.00 to $630.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, September 26th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, thirty-five have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $621.63.

Insider Transactions at Meta Platforms

In related news, COO Javier Olivan sold 413 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $574.16, for a total transaction of $237,128.08. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 10,707 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,147,531.12. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other Meta Platforms news, COO Javier Olivan sold 413 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, October 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $574.16, for a total transaction of $237,128.08. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 10,707 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,147,531.12. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 150 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $500.49, for a total value of $75,073.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 124,387 shares in the company, valued at approximately $62,254,449.63. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 250,818 shares of company stock worth $132,569,993 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

NASDAQ:META opened at $591.80 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $1.50 trillion, a P/E ratio of 33.99, a P/E/G ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.22. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a twelve month low of $296.86 and a twelve month high of $602.95. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $554.49 and its 200-day moving average price is $512.18. The company has a current ratio of 2.83, a quick ratio of 2.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The social networking company reported $5.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.70 by $0.46. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 34.16% and a net margin of 34.34%. The business had revenue of $39.07 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $38.26 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $3.23 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 22.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 21.44 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 26th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 16th were paid a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.34%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 16th. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 11.49%.

Meta Platforms 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.