Carnegie Investment Counsel Buys 1,203 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Carnegie Investment Counsel grew its stake in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 1.4% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 84,239 shares of the social networking company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,203 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms comprises about 1.4% of Carnegie Investment Counsel’s portfolio, making the stock its 12th biggest holding. Carnegie Investment Counsel’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $48,222,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Retirement Planning Group LLC boosted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 12.8% during the 3rd quarter. Retirement Planning Group LLC now owns 1,330 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $761,000 after acquiring an additional 151 shares in the last quarter. City State Bank lifted its stake in Meta Platforms by 4.1% during the third quarter. City State Bank now owns 1,791 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $1,025,000 after purchasing an additional 71 shares during the last quarter. Annex Advisory Services LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 12.7% in the 3rd quarter. Annex Advisory Services LLC now owns 70,057 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $40,104,000 after purchasing an additional 7,919 shares in the last quarter. Montis Financial LLC increased its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 32.9% in the 3rd quarter. Montis Financial LLC now owns 934 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $534,000 after purchasing an additional 231 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CRA Financial Services LLC raised its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.6% during the 3rd quarter. CRA Financial Services LLC now owns 13,874 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $7,942,000 after buying an additional 81 shares in the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Meta Platforms news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $589.89, for a total transaction of $533,850.45. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 34,197 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,172,468.33. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, CFO Susan J. Li sold 33,018 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $517.94, for a total transaction of $17,101,342.92. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $589.89, for a total transaction of $533,850.45. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 34,197 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,172,468.33. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 252,443 shares of company stock worth $133,105,284 in the last quarter. Insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

META has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Pivotal Research initiated coverage on Meta Platforms in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. They issued a “buy” rating and a $780.00 target price on the stock. Rosenblatt Securities lifted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $643.00 to $811.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, September 26th. Susquehanna increased their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $600.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. TD Cowen boosted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $530.00 to $600.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 10th. Finally, Monness Crespi & Hardt increased their price target on Meta Platforms from $570.00 to $620.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, September 30th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, thirty-five have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $609.71.

Meta Platforms Stock Up 1.0 %

Shares of NASDAQ:META opened at $589.95 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $1.50 trillion, a P/E ratio of 33.89, a PEG ratio of 1.45 and a beta of 1.22. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 52-week low of $279.40 and a 52-week high of $602.95. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $538.12 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $505.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a quick ratio of 2.83 and a current ratio of 2.83.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The social networking company reported $5.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.70 by $0.46. The company had revenue of $39.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $38.26 billion. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 34.16% and a net margin of 34.34%. Meta Platforms’s quarterly revenue was up 22.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $3.23 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 21.37 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 26th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 16th were given a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.34%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 16th. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is presently 11.49%.

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.