Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) Shares Purchased by Carlson Capital Management

Carlson Capital Management grew its stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 3.1% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,778 shares of the social networking company’s stock after purchasing an additional 54 shares during the quarter. Carlson Capital Management’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $1,018,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 57,001.5% during the 3rd 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 buying an additional 9,500,444 shares during the last quarter. Integrated Investment Consultants LLC grew its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 61,769.3% during the 3rd quarter. Integrated Investment Consultants LLC now owns 4,132,870 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $2,365,820,000 after buying an additional 4,126,190 shares during the last quarter. Sustainable Growth Advisers LP bought a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the 2nd quarter valued at about $595,152,000. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund grew its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 926.6% during the 2nd 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 buying an additional 661,923 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Manning & Napier Advisors LLC bought a new position in Meta Platforms in the 2nd quarter worth about $285,690,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

Shares of META opened at $569.20 on Thursday. The company’s fifty day moving average is $574.12 and its 200-day moving average is $526.03. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12 month low of $313.66 and a 12 month high of $602.95. The firm has a market cap of $1.44 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.25 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 (NASDAQ:META) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The social networking company reported $6.03 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $40.21 billion. Equities analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 22.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 26th. Investors of record on Monday, September 16th were paid a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 16th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.35%. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is presently 9.42%.

Insider Activity at Meta Platforms

In other Meta Platforms news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $565.30, for a total value of $511,596.50. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 37,790 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $21,362,687. This represents a 2.34 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 492 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, October 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $600.75, for a total transaction of $295,569.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 518,508 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $311,493,681. This trade represents a 0.09 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In 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.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

META has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $670.00 target price on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $590.00 to $663.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, October 14th. Barclays upped their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $630.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. KeyCorp upped their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $560.00 to $655.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $652.00 to $641.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 1st. 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 given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $634.71.

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.