Black Diamond Financial LLC Purchases 153 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Black Diamond Financial LLC lifted its position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 13.6% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,279 shares of the social networking company’s stock after buying an additional 153 shares during the period. Black Diamond Financial LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $732,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. King Wealth Management Group boosted its stake in Meta Platforms by 15.6% in the 3rd quarter. King Wealth Management Group now owns 16,984 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $9,722,000 after purchasing an additional 2,293 shares during the period. CIBC Asset Management Inc boosted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 5.5% during the 3rd quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 628,272 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $359,648,000 after buying an additional 32,732 shares during the last quarter. Oak Harbor Wealth Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.8% in the 3rd quarter. Oak Harbor Wealth Partners LLC now owns 1,944 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $1,113,000 after acquiring an additional 34 shares in the last quarter. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 43,343 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $24,811,000 after acquiring an additional 188 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sargent Investment Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 7.4% in the 3rd quarter. Sargent Investment Group LLC now owns 2,013 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $1,152,000 after acquiring an additional 139 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ META opened at $554.08 on Monday. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $568.11 and its 200-day moving average price is $521.17. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1-year low of $313.66 and a 1-year high of $602.95. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.40 trillion, a P/E ratio of 26.10, a P/E/G ratio of 1.23 and a beta of 1.22. The company has a current ratio of 2.73, a quick ratio of 2.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18.

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

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 26th. Investors of record on Monday, September 16th were issued a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.36%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 16th. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 9.42%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently commented on META. Sanford C. Bernstein lifted their price target on Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $675.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, October 25th. Susquehanna lifted their price target on Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $675.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Mizuho lifted their price target on Meta Platforms from $650.00 to $675.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $570.00 price target on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, Tigress Financial lifted their price target on Meta Platforms from $575.00 to $645.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 16th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, thirty-five have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $634.10.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $528.38, for a total transaction of $478,183.90. Following the sale, the insider now owns 40,532 shares in the company, valued at approximately $21,416,298.16. This trade represents a 2.18 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 7,975 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $516.36, for a total transaction of $4,117,971.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 531,884 shares in the company, valued at approximately $274,643,622.24. The trade was a 1.48 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 141,498 shares of company stock valued at $75,732,154. Company insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

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.