Meta Platforms, Inc. $META Shares Bought by Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P.

Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P. grew its position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 2.6% in the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 61,707 shares of the social networking company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,590 shares during the period. Meta Platforms accounts for approximately 1.1% of Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 10th biggest position. Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P.’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $45,528,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of META. Evergreen Private Wealth LLC boosted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 237.5% during the second quarter. Evergreen Private Wealth LLC now owns 54 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $40,000 after purchasing an additional 38 shares in the last quarter. Briaud Financial Planning Inc bought a new position in Meta Platforms in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $42,000. WFA Asset Management Corp boosted its position in Meta Platforms by 42.6% during the 2nd quarter. WFA Asset Management Corp now owns 67 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $49,000 after buying an additional 20 shares during the period. Maseco LLP acquired a new stake in Meta Platforms during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $54,000. Finally, Piscataqua Savings Bank grew its holdings in Meta Platforms by 433.3% during the 2nd quarter. Piscataqua Savings Bank now owns 80 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $59,000 after acquiring an additional 65 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently commented on META. Sanford C. Bernstein reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $870.00 price target (down previously from $900.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday, October 30th. DA Davidson set a $825.00 target price on Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday, October 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on Meta Platforms from $875.00 to $800.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Mizuho lowered their price objective on Meta Platforms from $925.00 to $815.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Finally, Truist Financial reduced their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $900.00 to $875.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-nine have issued a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $819.43.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

NASDAQ META opened at $661.53 on Friday. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12-month low of $479.80 and a 12-month high of $796.25. The company has a market cap of $1.67 trillion, a P/E ratio of 29.22, a PEG ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.28. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $674.56 and a 200 day simple moving average of $705.81. The company has a current ratio of 1.98, a quick ratio of 1.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 29th. The social networking company reported $7.25 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $6.74 by $0.51. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 39.35% and a net margin of 30.89%.The firm had revenue of $51.24 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $49.34 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $6.03 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 26.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 23rd. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.525 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 15th. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.3%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 9.28%.

Insider Activity

In related news, COO Javier Olivan sold 2,610 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Saturday, November 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $609.46, for a total transaction of $1,590,690.60. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 9,784 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,962,956.64. The trade was a 21.06% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO Susan J. Li sold 6,875 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Saturday, November 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $609.46, for a total transaction of $4,190,037.50. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 88,370 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $53,857,980.20. The trade was a 7.22% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 41,959 shares of company stock worth $26,671,107. Company insiders own 13.61% of the company’s stock.

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.