Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund Has $419.15 Million Stock Position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund cut its holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 0.2% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 732,219 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 1,139 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms accounts for approximately 1.0% of Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund’s holdings, making the stock its 17th largest position. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $419,151,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the business. POM Investment Strategies LLC bought a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the 2nd quarter valued at $38,000. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. raised its stake in Meta Platforms by 122.2% in the second quarter. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. now owns 80 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $40,000 after purchasing an additional 44 shares in the last quarter. Halpern Financial Inc. bought a new stake in Meta Platforms during the third quarter worth about $46,000. West Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Meta Platforms during the third quarter worth about $49,000. Finally, NewSquare Capital LLC increased its holdings 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 buying an additional 71 shares during the period. 79.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Meta Platforms

In other news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $565.30, for a total value of $511,596.50. Following the completion of 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 transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CAO Aaron Anderson sold 731 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction on Monday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $557.00, for a total value of $407,167.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 3,414 shares in the company, valued at $1,901,598. This trade represents a 17.64 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 111,561 shares of company stock worth $62,445,464 in the last quarter. 13.71% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Meta Platforms Trading Down 0.8 %

NASDAQ:META opened at $569.20 on Thursday. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a one year low of $313.66 and a one year high of $602.95. The company has a market cap of $1.44 trillion, a PE ratio of 26.81, a PEG ratio of 1.25 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. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $574.12 and a 200-day moving average of $526.03.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $40.21 billion. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 35.60% and a net margin of 35.55%. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 22.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 26th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 16th were issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.35%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 16th. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is 9.42%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

META has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $555.00 to $636.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, October 14th. Evercore ISI raised their target price on Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $600.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Citigroup boosted their price target on Meta Platforms from $645.00 to $705.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $600.00 price objective on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday, September 26th. Finally, DA Davidson started coverage on Meta Platforms in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. They set a “buy” rating and a $600.00 target price for the company. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, thirty-five have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $634.71.

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.