Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) Holdings Lifted by Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC

Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 5.6% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 480,344 shares of the social networking company’s stock after purchasing an additional 25,258 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms makes up approximately 1.6% of Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 6th largest holding. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $254,762,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in Meta Platforms by 0.9% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 13,827,565 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $7,915,451,000 after acquiring an additional 118,298 shares during the period. LS Investment Advisors LLC raised its position in Meta Platforms by 111.4% in the third quarter. LS Investment Advisors LLC now owns 11,679 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $6,686,000 after acquiring an additional 6,155 shares during the period. Gradient Investments LLC raised its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 8.9% in the second quarter. Gradient Investments LLC now owns 72,587 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $36,600,000 after purchasing an additional 5,953 shares during the period. Cutter & CO Brokerage Inc. raised its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.7% in the third quarter. Cutter & CO Brokerage Inc. now owns 9,735 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $5,573,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares during the period. Finally, Stanley Laman Group Ltd. raised its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 26.5% in the second quarter. Stanley Laman Group Ltd. now owns 1,678 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $846,000 after purchasing an additional 352 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $507.63, for a total value of $459,405.15. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 37,817 shares in the company, valued at $19,197,043.71. This trade represents a 2.34 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Aaron Anderson sold 731 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $557.00, for a total transaction of $407,167.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 3,414 shares in the company, valued at $1,901,598. This trade represents a 17.64 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 142,160 shares of company stock worth $81,611,223 in the last three months. 13.71% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently commented on META. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $640.00 to $660.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Guggenheim boosted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $665.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, October 7th. DA Davidson began coverage on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. They set a “buy” rating and a $600.00 price objective for the company. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $555.00 to $636.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, October 14th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed an “underperform” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, thirty-five have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $634.71.

Meta Platforms Stock Down 0.8 %

Shares of NASDAQ META opened at $608.93 on Friday. 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 $317.04 and a 12 month high of $619.90. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.54 trillion, a PE ratio of 28.68, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.35 and a beta of 1.20. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $578.51 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $531.05.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The social networking company reported $6.03 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.19 by $0.84. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 35.55% and a return on equity of 35.60%. The business had revenue of $40.59 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $40.21 billion. Equities analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 22.68 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 27th. Investors of record on Monday, December 16th will be paid a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.33%. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is 9.42%.

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.