Meridian Management Co. Buys 553 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Meridian Management Co. boosted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 4.4% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 13,164 shares of the social networking company’s stock after purchasing an additional 553 shares during the period. Meta Platforms comprises 1.9% of Meridian Management Co.’s portfolio, making the stock its 14th largest holding. Meridian Management Co.’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $7,535,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Meta Platforms by 0.4% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 187,180,393 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $90,891,055,000 after purchasing an additional 831,047 shares during the period. Capital World Investors increased its holdings in Meta Platforms by 0.6% during the first quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 38,299,316 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $18,597,382,000 after buying an additional 244,803 shares during the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors increased its holdings in Meta Platforms by 14.5% during the first quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 34,597,001 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $16,799,612,000 after buying an additional 4,379,826 shares during the last quarter. GQG Partners LLC increased its holdings in Meta Platforms by 3.1% during the first quarter. GQG Partners LLC now owns 11,497,335 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $5,582,876,000 after buying an additional 342,742 shares during the last quarter. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in Meta Platforms by 57,001.5% during the third 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. Institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

Meta Platforms stock opened at $554.08 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $568.11 and a 200-day moving average price of $519.97. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.40 trillion, a PE ratio of 26.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.28 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, Inc. has a 12-month low of $313.66 and a 12-month high of $602.95.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last released its earnings results 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 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%. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 22.53 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have commented on the stock. Benchmark reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday, July 25th. Bank of America upped their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $630.00 to $660.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. TD Cowen upped their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $675.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Oppenheimer increased their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $525.00 to $615.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, Hsbc Global Res raised shares of Meta Platforms to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Two equities research 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 issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $634.10.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 901 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $567.70, for a total value of $511,497.70. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 30,581 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $17,360,833.70. This trade represents a 2.86 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 7,975 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owns 531,884 shares in the company, valued at $274,643,622.24. This represents a 1.48 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 158,200 shares of company stock valued at $84,533,106 in the last 90 days. 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.