MBA Advisors LLC Has $1.28 Million Position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

MBA Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 2.3% during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,237 shares of the social networking company’s stock after purchasing an additional 50 shares during the quarter. MBA Advisors LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $1,281,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in META. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Meta Platforms by 0.4% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 187,180,393 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $90,891,055,000 after purchasing an additional 831,047 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors increased its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.6% in the first quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 38,299,316 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $18,597,382,000 after buying an additional 244,803 shares during the period. Capital Research Global Investors raised its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 14.5% during the first quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 34,597,001 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $16,799,612,000 after acquiring an additional 4,379,826 shares during the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC lifted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 24.7% in the first quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 13,867,398 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $6,733,731,000 after acquiring an additional 2,748,620 shares during the period. Finally, GQG Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 3.1% in the first quarter. GQG Partners LLC now owns 11,497,335 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $5,582,876,000 after acquiring an additional 342,742 shares during the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

META has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Loop Capital boosted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $575.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 6th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $675.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $640.00 to $660.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday. Citigroup upped their target price on Meta Platforms from $645.00 to $705.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Evercore ISI lifted their target price on Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $600.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, thirty-five have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $634.37.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 901 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $451.15, for a total transaction of $406,486.15. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 33,324 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,034,122.60. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other Meta Platforms news, CFO Susan J. Li sold 33,018 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $517.94, for a total value of $17,101,342.92. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 901 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $451.15, for a total value of $406,486.15. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 33,324 shares in the company, valued at $15,034,122.60. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 251,573 shares of company stock valued at $133,019,910. 13.71% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Meta Platforms Trading Down 4.1 %

NASDAQ:META opened at $567.58 on Friday. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 52 week low of $296.86 and a 52 week high of $602.95. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $555.21 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $512.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a quick ratio of 2.83 and a current ratio of 2.83. The firm has a market cap of $1.44 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.42 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 the consensus estimate of $5.19 by $0.84. The company had revenue of $40.59 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $40.21 billion. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 34.16% and a net margin of 34.34%. On average, equities analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 21.44 earnings per share 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 paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.35%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 16th. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is 11.49%.

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.