Crestmont Private Wealth LLC Buys New Shares in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Crestmont Private Wealth LLC bought a new position in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 381 shares of the social networking company’s stock, valued at approximately $218,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in META. Renaissance Investment Group LLC boosted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 5.0% in the third quarter. Renaissance Investment Group LLC now owns 9,104 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $5,212,000 after acquiring an additional 435 shares during the last quarter. Shaker Investments LLC OH boosted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 93.1% in the 3rd quarter. Shaker Investments LLC OH now owns 7,549 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $4,321,000 after purchasing an additional 3,640 shares during the last quarter. CHICAGO TRUST Co NA grew its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 22.7% during the 3rd quarter. CHICAGO TRUST Co NA now owns 7,988 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $4,573,000 after buying an additional 1,479 shares during the period. Carnegie Investment Counsel increased its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.4% during the 3rd quarter. Carnegie Investment Counsel now owns 84,239 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $48,222,000 after buying an additional 1,203 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Retirement Planning Group LLC raised its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 12.8% in the 3rd quarter. Retirement Planning Group LLC now owns 1,330 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $761,000 after buying an additional 151 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Meta Platforms

In other news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 150 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $500.49, for a total value of $75,073.50. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 124,387 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $62,254,449.63. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other Meta Platforms news, CFO Susan J. Li sold 33,018 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $517.94, for a total value of $17,101,342.92. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 150 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $500.49, for a total transaction of $75,073.50. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 124,387 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $62,254,449.63. 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 252,443 shares of company stock worth $133,105,284 over the last ninety days. 13.71% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

META has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Scotiabank began coverage on Meta Platforms in a research note on Friday. They set a “sector perform” rating and a $585.00 price target for the company. Barclays raised their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $520.00 to $550.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. DA Davidson began coverage on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. They set a “buy” rating and a $600.00 price objective for the company. Rosenblatt Securities raised their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $643.00 to $811.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 26th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $475.00 to $525.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, thirty-five have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $609.71.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

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

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 31st. The social networking company reported $5.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.70 by $0.46. The business had revenue of $39.07 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $38.26 billion. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 34.16% and a net margin of 34.34%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 22.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $3.23 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 21.37 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 26th. Stockholders 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 dividend yield of 0.34%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 16th. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.