Equita Financial Network Inc. Buys 77 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Equita Financial Network Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 16.1% in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 555 shares of the social networking company’s stock after buying an additional 77 shares during the quarter. Equita Financial Network Inc.’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $318,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 48.8% in the first 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 acquiring an additional 16,138 shares in the last quarter. Cypress Asset Management Inc. TX increased its position in Meta Platforms by 541.8% during the 1st quarter. Cypress Asset Management Inc. TX now owns 3,819 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $1,862,000 after purchasing an additional 3,224 shares during the period. Capital Group Private Client Services Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 39.1% in the 1st quarter. Capital Group Private Client Services Inc. now owns 223,025 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $108,296,000 after purchasing an additional 62,643 shares in the last quarter. Capital International Sarl lifted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 5.7% in the 1st quarter. Capital International Sarl now owns 292,128 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $141,852,000 after purchasing an additional 15,864 shares during the period. Finally, Capital Research Global Investors boosted its stake 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 valued at $16,799,612,000 after purchasing an additional 4,379,826 shares in the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Meta Platforms

In related news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 7,975 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $516.36, for a total value of $4,117,971.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 531,884 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $274,643,622.24. This represents a 1.48 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $519.05, for a total transaction of $469,740.25. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 39,627 shares in the company, valued at $20,568,394.35. This trade represents a 2.23 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 168,843 shares of company stock worth $92,083,554 in the last three months. 13.71% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Meta Platforms Trading Down 0.4 %

Shares of META opened at $563.09 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $572.05 and its two-hundred day moving average is $523.31. The stock has a market cap of $1.42 trillion, a PE ratio of 26.52, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.22. The company has a quick ratio of 2.73, a current ratio of 2.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 52-week low of $313.66 and a 52-week high of $602.95.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 35.55% and a return on equity of 35.60%. The company had revenue of $40.59 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $40.21 billion. Research analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 22.53 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 26th. Shareholders 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 yield of 0.36%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 16th. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 9.42%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have weighed in on the company. Tigress Financial upped their target price on Meta Platforms from $575.00 to $645.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 16th. Raymond James upped their price objective on Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Scotiabank cut their target price on 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. Benchmark reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday, July 25th. Finally, Oppenheimer raised their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $525.00 to $615.00 and gave the company 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 given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $634.10.

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.