Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) Stake Raised by Swiss National Bank

Swiss National Bank grew its stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 6,504,600 shares of the social networking company’s stock after buying an additional 17,100 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms accounts for about 2.4% of Swiss National Bank’s portfolio, making the stock its 5th largest holding. Swiss National Bank’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $3,723,493,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. POM Investment Strategies LLC acquired a new stake in Meta Platforms in the 2nd quarter valued at $38,000. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. increased its stake in Meta Platforms by 122.2% during the second quarter. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. now owns 80 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $40,000 after acquiring an additional 44 shares during the last quarter. Halpern Financial Inc. purchased a new position in Meta Platforms during the third quarter worth about $46,000. West Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Meta Platforms during the third quarter worth $49,000. Finally, NewSquare Capital LLC grew its position in Meta Platforms by 221.9% in the 2nd quarter. NewSquare Capital LLC now owns 103 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $52,000 after acquiring an additional 71 shares in the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

META has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $670.00 price objective on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. DA Davidson began coverage on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Tuesday, September 10th. They set a “buy” rating and a $600.00 price target for the company. Tigress Financial lifted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $575.00 to $645.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 16th. JMP Securities boosted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $635.00 to $660.00 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $630.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Two research 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 data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $634.10.

Insider Buying and Selling at Meta Platforms

In other news, COO Javier Olivan sold 413 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $536.92, for a total transaction of $221,747.96. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 14,424 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,744,534.08. This represents a 2.78 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CAO Aaron Anderson sold 731 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $557.00, for a total transaction of $407,167.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 3,414 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,901,598. This trade represents a 17.64 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 185,958 shares of company stock worth $101,181,747. 13.71% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

Shares of META stock opened at $561.09 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $1.42 trillion, a P/E ratio of 26.43, a PEG ratio of 1.23 and a beta of 1.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a current ratio of 2.73 and a quick ratio of 2.73. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $313.66 and a fifty-two week high of $602.95. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $570.23 and its two-hundred day moving average is $522.73.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The social networking company reported $6.03 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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%. Analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 22.53 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

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

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.