Paladin Wealth LLC Acquires Shares of 3,461 Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Paladin Wealth LLC bought a new stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 3,461 shares of the social networking company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,981,000. Meta Platforms comprises approximately 1.7% of Paladin Wealth LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 13th largest holding.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of META. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. raised its position in Meta Platforms by 36.9% in the 3rd quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. now owns 2,236 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $1,280,000 after purchasing an additional 603 shares during the last quarter. MEAG MUNICH ERGO Kapitalanlagegesellschaft mbH raised its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.6% during the 3rd quarter. MEAG MUNICH ERGO Kapitalanlagegesellschaft mbH now owns 117,314 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $67,155,000 after acquiring an additional 661 shares during the last quarter. Redhawk Wealth Advisors Inc. raised its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 3.0% during the 3rd quarter. Redhawk Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 3,177 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $1,819,000 after acquiring an additional 93 shares during the last quarter. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 10.6% in the 3rd quarter. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. now owns 691 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $396,000 after buying an additional 66 shares during the period. Finally, Rise Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 2.6% in the 3rd quarter. Rise Advisors LLC now owns 1,372 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $785,000 after buying an additional 35 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

Shares of META opened at $594.19 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 2.83, a quick ratio of 2.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.51 trillion, a P/E ratio of 33.89, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.45 and a beta of 1.22. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $538.12 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $505.67. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12 month low of $279.40 and a 12 month high of $602.95.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 31st. The social networking company reported $5.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.70 by $0.46. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 34.34% and a return on equity of 34.16%. The company had revenue of $39.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $38.26 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $3.23 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 22.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 21.37 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 26th. Investors of record on Monday, September 16th were issued a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 16th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.34%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is presently 11.49%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Meta Platforms

In other Meta Platforms news, CFO Susan J. Li sold 33,018 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $517.94, for a total value of $17,101,342.92. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Meta Platforms news, CFO Susan J. Li sold 33,018 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $517.94, for a total value of $17,101,342.92. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 901 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $451.15, for a total transaction of $406,486.15. Following the sale, the insider now owns 33,324 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $15,034,122.60. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 252,443 shares of company stock worth $133,105,284. Insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on META. JMP Securities upped their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $635.00 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 26th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $647.00 to $652.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $565.00 to $600.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Susquehanna upped their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $600.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, Citigroup boosted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $580.00 to $645.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, September 23rd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, thirty-five have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $609.71.

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.