Davis R M Inc. Buys 1,604 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Davis R M Inc. lifted its position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 1.4% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 118,615 shares of the social networking company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,604 shares during the period. Meta Platforms comprises approximately 1.3% of Davis R M Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 24th biggest holding. Davis R M Inc.’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $67,900,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in META. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in shares of 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 valued at $7,915,451,000 after acquiring an additional 118,298 shares during the period. LS Investment Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 111.4% during the third quarter. LS Investment Advisors LLC now owns 11,679 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $6,686,000 after purchasing an additional 6,155 shares during the period. Gradient Investments LLC grew its stake 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 worth $36,600,000 after purchasing an additional 5,953 shares during the last quarter. Cutter & CO Brokerage Inc. increased its holdings in Meta Platforms by 0.7% during the 3rd 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 Meta Platforms by 26.5% during the 2nd 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 last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Meta Platforms Trading Up 1.5 %

Shares of NASDAQ:META opened at $573.54 on Wednesday. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 52-week low of $313.66 and a 52-week high of $602.95. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.45 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.02, a PEG ratio of 1.23 and a beta of 1.22. 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 stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $573.38 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $525.35.

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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $40.21 billion. Analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 22.62 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on Meta Platforms from $652.00 to $641.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Monness Crespi & Hardt boosted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $620.00 to $660.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. TD Cowen raised their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $675.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Citigroup boosted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $645.00 to $705.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Tigress Financial raised their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $575.00 to $645.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 16th. Two equities 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 given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $634.71.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Meta Platforms news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $507.63, for a total transaction of $459,405.15. Following the sale, the insider now owns 37,817 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,197,043.71. This trade represents a 2.34 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 492 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $600.75, for a total transaction of $295,569.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 518,508 shares in the company, valued at $311,493,681. This represents a 0.09 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 110,656 shares of company stock valued at $61,933,867. 13.71% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.