Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) Shares Purchased by Sargent Investment Group LLC

Sargent Investment Group LLC lifted its holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 7.4% in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 2,013 shares of the social networking company’s stock after purchasing an additional 139 shares during the period. Sargent Investment Group LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $1,152,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Central Valley Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. Central Valley Advisors LLC now owns 5,714 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $3,271,000 after buying an additional 18 shares during the last quarter. Cherrydale Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. Cherrydale Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,841 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $2,199,000 after buying an additional 18 shares during the last quarter. Alliance Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.7% during the 3rd quarter. Alliance Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,787 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $1,595,000 after buying an additional 18 shares during the last quarter. Kozak & Associates Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.0% during the 3rd quarter. Kozak & Associates Inc. now owns 1,906 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $1,099,000 after buying an additional 18 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC lifted its stake in Meta Platforms by 0.5% during the third quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 3,560 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $2,038,000 after purchasing an additional 18 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Trading Down 4.0 %

Shares of NASDAQ META opened at $554.08 on Monday. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a one year low of $313.66 and a one year high of $602.95. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.40 trillion, a PE ratio of 26.10, a PEG 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. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $568.11 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $521.17.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last announced 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 return on equity of 35.60% and a net margin of 35.55%. The firm had revenue of $40.59 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $40.21 billion. As a group, analysts predict 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. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 16th were given a dividend of $0.50 per share. 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 0.36%. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is presently 9.42%.

Insider Activity

In other news, COO Javier Olivan sold 413 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $536.92, for a total transaction of $221,747.96. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 14,424 shares in the company, valued at $7,744,534.08. The trade was a 2.78 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Christopher K. Cox sold 20,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $557.52, for a total value of $11,150,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 338,662 shares in the company, valued at $188,810,838.24. The trade was a 5.58 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 141,498 shares of company stock worth $75,732,154 in the last three months. 13.71% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Tigress Financial raised their price objective on Meta Platforms from $575.00 to $645.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 16th. Guggenheim raised their price objective on Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $665.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, October 7th. JMP Securities raised their price objective on Meta Platforms from $635.00 to $660.00 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on Meta Platforms from $652.00 to $641.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and set a $600.00 price objective on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday, September 26th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, thirty-five have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $634.10.

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.