Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) Shares Purchased by Hilltop Holdings Inc.

Hilltop Holdings Inc. raised its position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 123.2% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 16,689 shares of the social networking company’s stock after purchasing an additional 9,212 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms comprises 0.6% of Hilltop Holdings Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 26th biggest position. Hilltop Holdings Inc.’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $9,553,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Insight Wealth Strategies LLC raised its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 10.7% in the 2nd quarter. Insight Wealth Strategies LLC now owns 1,049 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $529,000 after acquiring an additional 101 shares during the period. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in Meta Platforms by 1.9% in the 2nd quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 24,184 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $12,194,000 after purchasing an additional 443 shares during the last quarter. Olistico Wealth LLC raised its position in Meta Platforms by 13.9% in the second quarter. Olistico Wealth LLC now owns 1,674 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $844,000 after purchasing an additional 204 shares during the period. Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Meta Platforms by 17.7% during the second quarter. Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 33,357 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $16,819,000 after purchasing an additional 5,022 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Astoria Portfolio Advisors LLC. boosted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 4.3% during the second quarter. Astoria Portfolio Advisors LLC. now owns 4,636 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $2,338,000 after buying an additional 189 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on META shares. Rosenblatt Securities reissued a “buy” rating and set a $811.00 target price on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Needham & Company LLC reissued an “underperform” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Piper Sandler upped their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $575.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Mizuho raised their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $650.00 to $675.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Roth Mkm upped their price objective on Meta Platforms from $620.00 to $635.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four 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 data from MarketBeat, Meta Platforms has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $634.71.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $520.00, for a total transaction of $470,600.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 38,722 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,135,440. The trade was a 2.28 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 413 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $522.00, for a total value of $215,586.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 13,598 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,098,156. The trade was a 2.95 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 106,239 shares of company stock worth $59,681,541. 13.71% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Meta Platforms Stock Up 0.4 %

Shares of Meta Platforms stock opened at $576.43 on Monday. 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 $1.46 trillion, a P/E ratio of 27.05, a PEG ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 1.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a quick ratio of 2.73 and a current ratio of 2.73. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $575.21 and a two-hundred day moving average of $527.76.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The social networking company reported $6.03 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.19 by $0.84. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 35.55% and a return on equity of 35.60%. The firm had revenue of $40.59 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $40.21 billion. On average, analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 22.62 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 26th. Investors 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 of this dividend was Monday, September 16th. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is presently 9.42%.

Meta Platforms Company 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.