Shum Financial Group Inc. Invests $207,000 in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Shum Financial Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm acquired 362 shares of the social networking company’s stock, valued at approximately $207,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Lindenwold Advisors INC grew its stake in Meta Platforms by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. Lindenwold Advisors INC now owns 5,918 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $3,388,000 after acquiring an additional 17 shares during the period. Central Valley Advisors LLC grew its stake in Meta Platforms by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. Central Valley Advisors LLC now owns 5,714 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $3,271,000 after acquiring an additional 18 shares during the period. Cherrydale Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in Meta Platforms by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter. Cherrydale Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,841 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $2,199,000 after acquiring an additional 18 shares during the period. Alliance Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in Meta Platforms by 0.7% in the 3rd quarter. Alliance Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,787 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $1,595,000 after acquiring an additional 18 shares during the period. Finally, Kozak & Associates Inc. grew its stake in Meta Platforms by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter. Kozak & Associates Inc. now owns 1,906 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $1,099,000 after acquiring an additional 18 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Meta Platforms

In related news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $565.30, for a total transaction of $511,596.50. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 37,790 shares in the company, valued at approximately $21,362,687. This represents a 2.34 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Christopher K. Cox sold 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $557.52, for a total value of $11,150,400.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 338,662 shares in the company, valued at $188,810,838.24. This trade represents a 5.58 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 111,561 shares of company stock valued at $62,445,464 over the last quarter. Insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

META has been the topic of several recent research reports. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $570.00 target price on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Piper Sandler lifted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $575.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $640.00 to $660.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $555.00 to $636.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, October 14th. Finally, Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $630.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, thirty-five have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $634.71.

Meta Platforms Stock Down 0.8 %

Meta Platforms stock opened at $569.20 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a quick ratio of 2.73 and a current ratio of 2.73. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.44 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.25 and a beta of 1.22. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $313.66 and a fifty-two week high of $602.95. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $574.12 and its two-hundred day moving average is $526.03.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The social networking company reported $6.03 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.19 by $0.84. The business had revenue of $40.59 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $40.21 billion. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 35.60% and a net margin of 35.55%. Analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 22.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 26th. Investors of record on Monday, September 16th were paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.35%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 16th. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is currently 9.42%.

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.