Empower Advisory Group LLC Increases Position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Empower Advisory Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 1.1% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 421,381 shares of the social networking company’s stock after acquiring an additional 4,594 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms accounts for about 0.8% of Empower Advisory Group LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 25th biggest position. Empower Advisory Group LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $241,215,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of META. Moser Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Meta Platforms by 1.5% in the third quarter. Moser Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,319 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $755,000 after buying an additional 19 shares during the last quarter. Paulson Wealth Management Inc. increased its holdings in Meta Platforms by 2.3% in the third quarter. Paulson Wealth Management Inc. now owns 964 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $552,000 after buying an additional 22 shares during the last quarter. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Meta Platforms by 18.7% in the third quarter. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC now owns 97,857 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $56,017,000 after buying an additional 15,432 shares during the last quarter. Commonwealth Retirement Investments LLC increased its holdings in Meta Platforms by 11.9% in the third quarter. Commonwealth Retirement Investments LLC now owns 1,108 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $634,000 after buying an additional 118 shares during the last quarter. Finally, First Heartland Consultants Inc. increased its holdings in Meta Platforms by 0.7% in the third quarter. First Heartland Consultants Inc. now owns 3,641 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $2,084,000 after buying an additional 27 shares during the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Meta Platforms

In other news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 16,702 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $533.24, for a total value of $8,906,174.48. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 28,838 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $15,377,575.12. This represents a 36.68 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $528.38, for a total transaction of $478,183.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 40,532 shares in the company, valued at $21,416,298.16. This trade represents a 2.18 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 158,200 shares of company stock valued at $84,533,106 in the last three months. 13.71% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:META opened at $554.08 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $568.11 and a 200-day moving average of $519.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a quick ratio of 2.73 and a current ratio of 2.73. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a one year low of $313.66 and a one year high of $602.95. The company 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.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The social networking company reported $6.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 company had revenue of $40.59 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $40.21 billion. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 22.53 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 26th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 16th were paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.36%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 16th. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 9.42%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

META has been the subject of several research analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $555.00 to $636.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, October 14th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their target price on Meta Platforms from $525.00 to $585.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $670.00 target price on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Robert W. Baird upped their target price on Meta Platforms from $605.00 to $630.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Mizuho upped their target price on Meta Platforms from $650.00 to $675.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Two research 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 issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $634.10.

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.