Fiera Capital Corp Increases Stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Fiera Capital Corp lifted its holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 11.3% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 30,347 shares of the social networking company’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,075 shares during the quarter. Fiera Capital Corp’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $17,372,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of META. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its stake in Meta Platforms by 48.8% during the 1st quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 49,191 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $23,886,000 after purchasing an additional 16,138 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC increased its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 22.4% in the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 67,195 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $32,629,000 after buying an additional 12,301 shares during the last quarter. Zevenbergen Capital Investments LLC lifted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.8% in the 1st quarter. Zevenbergen Capital Investments LLC now owns 453,672 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $220,294,000 after purchasing an additional 3,706 shares during the last quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management UK Ltd. boosted its stake in Meta Platforms by 240.0% during the first quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management UK Ltd. now owns 8,500 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $4,127,000 after buying an additional 6,000 shares during the period. Finally, Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund grew its holdings in Meta Platforms by 1.4% during the 1st quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund now owns 227,024 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $110,238,000 after purchasing an additional 3,236 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

Shares of META stock opened at $583.17 on Tuesday. 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 firm has a market cap of $1.47 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.47, a PEG ratio of 1.30 and a beta of 1.22. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $563.02 and a 200 day moving average price of $517.29. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12 month low of $313.66 and a 12 month high of $602.95.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The social networking company reported $6.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.19 by $0.84. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 35.60% and a net margin of 35.55%. The company had revenue of $40.59 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $40.21 billion. Research analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 22.53 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Activity at Meta Platforms

In related news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 492 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $600.75, for a total transaction of $295,569.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 518,508 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $311,493,681. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, COO Javier Olivan sold 413 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $536.92, for a total transaction of $221,747.96. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 14,424 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,744,534.08. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 492 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $600.75, for a total transaction of $295,569.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 518,508 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $311,493,681. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 211,416 shares of company stock valued at $112,638,243. 13.71% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

META has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Scotiabank reduced their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $585.00 to $583.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Raymond James lifted their target price on Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $650.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on Meta Platforms from $525.00 to $530.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Rosenblatt Securities reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $811.00 price objective on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, DA Davidson assumed coverage on Meta Platforms in a report on Tuesday, September 10th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $600.00 price objective on the stock. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, thirty-five have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $634.10.

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.