Baldwin Investment Management LLC Has $1.10 Million Holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Baldwin Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 6.5% during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,926 shares of the social networking company’s stock after purchasing an additional 118 shares during the period. Baldwin Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $1,102,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Cypress Asset Management Inc. TX raised its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 541.8% during the first quarter. Cypress Asset Management Inc. TX now owns 3,819 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $1,862,000 after buying an additional 3,224 shares during the last quarter. First City Capital Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.7% during the 1st quarter. First City Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,499 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $728,000 after acquiring an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. Cedar Point Capital Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 11.6% in the 1st quarter. Cedar Point Capital Partners LLC now owns 681 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $331,000 after purchasing an additional 71 shares during the period. Burney Co. boosted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 8.4% in the 1st quarter. Burney Co. now owns 68,805 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $33,411,000 after purchasing an additional 5,307 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Austin Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in Meta Platforms by 15.0% in the first quarter. Austin Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,535 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $718,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Meta Platforms Stock Down 0.8 %

Shares of META opened at $569.20 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $1.44 trillion, a PE ratio of 26.81, a PEG ratio of 1.25 and a beta of 1.22. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $574.12 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $526.03. 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 announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The social networking company reported $6.03 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.19 by $0.84. The business 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%. On average, analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 22.62 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 26th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 16th were issued a $0.50 dividend. 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 0.35%. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is currently 9.42%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Meta Platforms

In other Meta Platforms news, COO Javier Olivan sold 413 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction on Friday, August 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $521.35, for a total value of $215,317.55. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 14,011 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,304,634.85. The trade was a 2.86 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 4,909 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $519.17, for a total transaction of $2,548,605.53. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 519,000 shares in the company, valued at $269,449,230. This trade represents a 0.94 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 111,561 shares of company stock valued at $62,445,464. 13.71% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have commented on META. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $570.00 target price on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Barclays boosted their target price on Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $630.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on Meta Platforms from $525.00 to $530.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Truist Financial increased their target price on Meta Platforms from $570.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $652.00 to $641.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Two 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 assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $634.71.

About Meta Platforms

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.