Coastwise Capital Group LLC Increases Position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Coastwise Capital Group LLC raised its stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 2.3% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 4,406 shares of the social networking company’s stock after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms makes up about 2.1% of Coastwise Capital Group LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 10th biggest holding. Coastwise Capital Group LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $2,522,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in META. Insight Wealth Strategies LLC increased its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 10.7% during the 2nd quarter. Insight Wealth Strategies LLC now owns 1,049 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $529,000 after acquiring an additional 101 shares during the last quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.9% during the 2nd quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 24,184 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $12,194,000 after buying an additional 443 shares during the last quarter. Olistico Wealth LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 13.9% during the 2nd quarter. Olistico Wealth LLC now owns 1,674 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $844,000 after buying an additional 204 shares during the period. Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in Meta Platforms by 17.7% in the 2nd quarter. Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 33,357 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $16,819,000 after buying an additional 5,022 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Astoria Portfolio Advisors LLC. raised its holdings in Meta Platforms by 4.3% in the 2nd quarter. Astoria Portfolio Advisors LLC. now owns 4,636 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $2,338,000 after acquiring an additional 189 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Trading Up 0.9 %

NASDAQ:META opened at $574.32 on Monday. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 52 week low of $313.66 and a 52 week high of $602.95. 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’s fifty day moving average is $575.21 and its 200-day moving average is $527.76. The firm has a market cap of $1.45 trillion, a P/E ratio of 27.05, a P/E/G ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 1.22.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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 analysts’ expectations of $40.21 billion. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 35.55% and a return on equity of 35.60%. Equities analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 22.62 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 26th. The shares were 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $21,362,687. This represents a 2.34 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Susan J. Li sold 8,951 shares of Meta Platforms 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 completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 51,591 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $29,776,261.56. This trade represents a 14.78 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 106,239 shares of company stock worth $59,681,541. Corporate insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Barclays upped their target price on Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $630.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on Meta Platforms from $525.00 to $530.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Monness Crespi & Hardt lifted their target price on Meta Platforms from $620.00 to $660.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Piper Sandler boosted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $575.00 to $650.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Pivotal Research raised their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $780.00 to $800.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Two investment 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 assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, 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.