Draper Asset Management LLC Buys New Shares in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Draper Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 8,149 shares of the social networking company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,665,000. Meta Platforms makes up 3.3% of Draper Asset Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 7th biggest position.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in META. SevenBridge Financial Group LLC raised its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 3.0% during the 3rd quarter. SevenBridge Financial Group LLC now owns 11,163 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $6,510,000 after purchasing an additional 327 shares during the period. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP raised its holdings in Meta Platforms by 5.8% during the third quarter. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP now owns 911,723 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $521,907,000 after acquiring an additional 50,151 shares during the period. Centaurus Financial Inc. lifted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 23.9% in the third quarter. Centaurus Financial Inc. now owns 28,800 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $16,486,000 after acquiring an additional 5,556 shares in the last quarter. Wealth Dimensions Group Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 5.6% in the third quarter. Wealth Dimensions Group Ltd. now owns 1,550 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $887,000 after acquiring an additional 82 shares during the period. Finally, Alpha DNA Investment Management LLC grew its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 32.1% during the third quarter. Alpha DNA Investment Management LLC now owns 2,945 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $1,686,000 after purchasing an additional 716 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Stock Up 1.1 %

NASDAQ:META opened at $565.11 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a current ratio of 2.73 and a quick ratio of 2.73. The firm has a market cap of $1.43 trillion, a PE ratio of 26.62, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.23 and a beta of 1.22. The company has a 50-day moving average of $573.38 and a 200 day moving average of $525.35. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1-year low of $313.66 and a 1-year high of $602.95.

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

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 26th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 16th were given a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.35%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 16th. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is 9.42%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have weighed in on the company. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on Meta Platforms from $525.00 to $530.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Oppenheimer raised their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $525.00 to $615.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $675.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Citigroup raised their price objective on Meta Platforms from $645.00 to $705.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Guggenheim boosted their target price on Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $665.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, October 7th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, thirty-five have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $634.71.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Christopher K. Cox sold 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $557.52, for a total transaction of $11,150,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 338,662 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $188,810,838.24. This represents a 5.58 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 84 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction on Monday, October 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $600.00, for a total transaction of $50,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 518,424 shares in the company, valued at $311,054,400. This represents a 0.02 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 118,218 shares of company stock worth $65,819,414 in the last three months. 13.71% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.