Blue Investment Partners LLC Raises Stock Holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Blue Investment Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 10.8% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 8,358 shares of the social networking company’s stock after acquiring an additional 813 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms comprises about 2.0% of Blue Investment Partners LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 19th biggest holding. Blue Investment Partners LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $4,784,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. POM Investment Strategies LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the 2nd quarter valued at about $38,000. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. grew its position in Meta Platforms by 122.2% during the second quarter. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. now owns 80 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $40,000 after buying an additional 44 shares during the period. Halpern Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms during the third quarter valued at approximately $46,000. West Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the 3rd quarter worth $49,000. Finally, NewSquare Capital LLC boosted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 221.9% during the 2nd quarter. NewSquare Capital LLC now owns 103 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $52,000 after acquiring an additional 71 shares during the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

Shares of META stock opened at $569.20 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $1.44 trillion, a P/E ratio of 26.81, a P/E/G ratio of 1.25 and a beta of 1.22. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $574.12 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $526.03. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a one year low of $313.66 and a one year high of $602.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a current ratio of 2.73 and a quick ratio of 2.73.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 company had revenue of $40.59 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $40.21 billion. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 35.60% and a net margin of 35.55%. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 22.62 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.35%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 16th. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 9.42%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Christopher K. Cox sold 20,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $557.52, for a total transaction of $11,150,400.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 338,662 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $188,810,838.24. This trade represents a 5.58 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $520.00, for a total transaction of $470,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 38,722 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,135,440. This represents a 2.28 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 111,561 shares of company stock valued at $62,445,464 over the last three months. 13.71% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently commented on META shares. Mizuho raised their target price on Meta Platforms from $650.00 to $675.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on Meta Platforms from $590.00 to $663.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, October 14th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $525.00 to $585.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $675.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Finally, Truist Financial upped their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $570.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, thirty-five have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $634.71.

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.