Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) Stock Position Boosted by iA Global Asset Management Inc.

iA Global Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 28.0% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 343,367 shares of the social networking company’s stock after acquiring an additional 75,126 shares during the period. Meta Platforms makes up 3.5% of iA Global Asset Management Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 6th biggest position. iA Global Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $196,557,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the third quarter worth $36,000. POM Investment Strategies LLC purchased a new position in Meta Platforms in the 2nd quarter valued at about $38,000. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 122.2% during the second quarter. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. now owns 80 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $40,000 after acquiring an additional 44 shares in the last quarter. Halpern Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the third quarter valued at about $46,000. Finally, West Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the third quarter worth about $49,000. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Meta Platforms Trading Up 2.4 %

Shares of NASDAQ META opened at $623.77 on Friday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $578.51 and a 200-day simple moving average of $531.05. The company has a market cap of $1.57 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.38, a P/E/G ratio of 1.35 and a beta of 1.20. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12 month low of $317.77 and a 12 month high of $629.79. The company has a quick ratio of 2.73, a current ratio of 2.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The social networking company reported $6.03 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 firm had revenue of $40.59 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $40.21 billion. Sell-side analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 22.68 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 27th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 16th will be given a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 16th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.32%. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is 9.42%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Meta Platforms

In other news, CFO Susan J. Li sold 8,951 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $577.16, for a total transaction of $5,166,159.16. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 51,591 shares in the company, valued at approximately $29,776,261.56. This trade represents a 14.78 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $507.63, for a total transaction of $459,405.15. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 37,817 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $19,197,043.71. This represents a 2.34 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 142,160 shares of company stock valued at $81,611,223 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have weighed in on META. DA Davidson initiated coverage on Meta Platforms in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. They set a “buy” rating and a $600.00 price objective for the company. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $690.00 to $719.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Pivotal Research increased their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $780.00 to $800.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. 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. Finally, Barclays upped their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $630.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, thirty-five have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average 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.