Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) is J. Stern & Co. LLP’s 4th Largest Position

J. Stern & Co. LLP lifted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 6.2% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 118,164 shares of the social networking company’s stock after buying an additional 6,858 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms comprises about 7.2% of J. Stern & Co. LLP’s holdings, making the stock its 4th biggest holding. J. Stern & Co. LLP’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $67,642,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. POM Investment Strategies LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $38,000. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. raised its position in Meta Platforms by 122.2% in the 2nd quarter. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. now owns 80 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $40,000 after purchasing an additional 44 shares during the last quarter. Halpern Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms in the 3rd quarter valued at $46,000. West Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms in the 3rd quarter valued at $49,000. Finally, NewSquare Capital LLC raised its position in Meta Platforms by 221.9% in the 2nd quarter. NewSquare Capital LLC now owns 103 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $52,000 after purchasing an additional 71 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently commented on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $590.00 to $663.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, October 14th. Hsbc Global Res upgraded shares of Meta Platforms to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $525.00 to $530.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $575.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, Bank of America boosted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $630.00 to $660.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. 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 issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $634.71.

Insider Buying and Selling at Meta Platforms

In related news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $565.30, for a total transaction of $511,596.50. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 37,790 shares in the company, valued at $21,362,687. The trade was a 2.34 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 413 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $562.77, for a total transaction of $232,424.01. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 19,579 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,018,473.83. This represents a 2.07 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 111,561 shares of company stock worth $62,445,464. 13.71% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

Shares of META opened at $569.20 on Thursday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $574.12 and its 200 day moving average price is $526.03. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12-month low of $313.66 and a 12-month high of $602.95. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.44 trillion, a PE ratio of 26.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.25 and a beta of 1.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a current ratio of 2.73 and a quick ratio of 2.73.

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, topping the consensus estimate of $5.19 by $0.84. The firm had revenue of $40.59 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $40.21 billion. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 35.60% and a net margin of 35.55%. Equities research analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 22.62 EPS for the current 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 yield of 0.35%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 16th. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is 9.42%.

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.