Prospera Financial Services Inc Boosts Stock Position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Prospera Financial Services Inc lifted its position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 21.6% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 45,693 shares of the social networking company’s stock after acquiring an additional 8,106 shares during the period. Meta Platforms comprises about 0.7% of Prospera Financial Services Inc’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 23rd biggest holding. Prospera Financial Services Inc’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $26,163,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its position in Meta Platforms by 57,001.5% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 9,517,111 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $5,447,975,000 after purchasing an additional 9,500,444 shares during the period. Capital Research Global Investors raised its stake in Meta Platforms by 14.5% during the 1st 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 period. Sustainable Growth Advisers LP purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms in the 2nd quarter worth $595,152,000. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board grew its holdings in Meta Platforms by 30.0% during the 1st quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 3,411,009 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $1,656,318,000 after buying an additional 788,131 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund grew its stake in Meta Platforms by 926.6% during the second quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund now owns 733,358 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $369,774,000 after acquiring an additional 661,923 shares in the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other Meta Platforms news, COO Javier Olivan sold 413 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $521.35, for a total value of $215,317.55. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 14,011 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,304,634.85. This trade represents a 2.86 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 492 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $600.75, for a total value of $295,569.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 518,508 shares in the company, valued at $311,493,681. This represents a 0.09 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 168,843 shares of company stock worth $92,083,554 over the last quarter. 13.71% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently commented on META. KeyCorp increased their target price on Meta Platforms from $560.00 to $655.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $555.00 to $636.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, October 14th. Loop Capital boosted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $575.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 6th. JMP Securities increased their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $635.00 to $660.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Mizuho boosted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $650.00 to $675.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, thirty-five have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $634.10.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

Shares of META opened at $563.09 on Friday. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a one year low of $313.66 and a one year high of $602.95. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $572.05 and a two-hundred day moving average of $523.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a quick ratio of 2.73 and a current ratio of 2.73. The stock has a market cap of $1.42 trillion, a P/E ratio of 26.52, a P/E/G ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.22.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The social networking company reported $6.03 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.19 by $0.84. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 35.55% and a return on equity of 35.60%. The business had revenue of $40.59 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $40.21 billion. As a group, research analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 22.53 EPS for the current 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 given 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 was Monday, September 16th. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is presently 9.42%.

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.