Generate Investment Management Ltd Purchases 34,874 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Generate Investment Management Ltd grew its position in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 43.0% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 116,059 shares of the social networking company’s stock after acquiring an additional 34,874 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms comprises 4.4% of Generate Investment Management Ltd’s portfolio, making the stock its 4th biggest position. Generate Investment Management Ltd’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $66,437,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of META. Capital Research Global Investors grew its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 14.5% in the first quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 34,597,001 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $16,799,612,000 after buying an additional 4,379,826 shares in the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC grew its position in Meta Platforms by 24.7% in the first quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 13,867,398 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $6,733,731,000 after acquiring an additional 2,748,620 shares in the last quarter. Sustainable Growth Advisers LP acquired a new stake in Meta Platforms in the second quarter valued at approximately $595,152,000. Global Assets Advisory LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the first quarter valued at approximately $515,383,000. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.4% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 187,180,393 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $90,891,055,000 after purchasing an additional 831,047 shares during the period. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Meta Platforms Stock Down 0.1 %

META stock opened at $576.47 on Friday. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $546.53 and its two-hundred day moving average is $508.76. The company has a market capitalization of $1.46 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.11, a price-to-earnings-growth 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 company has a current ratio of 2.83, a quick ratio of 2.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12.

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

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 26th. Investors of record on Monday, September 16th were paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 16th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.35%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is currently 11.49%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 492 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $600.75, for a total transaction of $295,569.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 518,508 shares in the company, valued at approximately $311,493,681. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In related news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 492 shares of the 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 518,508 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $311,493,681. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $589.97, for a total transaction of $533,922.85. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 33,292 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,641,281.24. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 250,816 shares of company stock valued at $132,421,828 over the last three months. Company insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

META has been the topic of several analyst reports. Pivotal Research initiated coverage on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. They set a “buy” rating and a $780.00 price target on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on Meta Platforms from $555.00 to $636.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, October 14th. Citigroup increased their price target on Meta Platforms from $580.00 to $645.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, September 23rd. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and set a $670.00 price objective on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on Meta Platforms from $590.00 to $663.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, October 14th. Two investment 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 issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Meta Platforms presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $617.37.

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.