Concord Wealth Partners Raises Position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Concord Wealth Partners increased its position in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 10.5% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 13,555 shares of the social networking company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,283 shares during the period. Meta Platforms makes up approximately 1.3% of Concord Wealth Partners’ portfolio, making the stock its 21st largest position. Concord Wealth Partners’ holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $7,759,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Gradient Investments LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 8.9% in the 2nd quarter. Gradient Investments LLC now owns 72,587 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $36,600,000 after buying an additional 5,953 shares during the period. Baillie Gifford & Co. lifted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 14.0% in the first quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. now owns 6,101,501 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $2,962,767,000 after acquiring an additional 748,076 shares during the period. Stanley Laman Group Ltd. lifted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 26.5% in the second quarter. Stanley Laman Group Ltd. now owns 1,678 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $846,000 after acquiring an additional 352 shares during the period. Lincoln National Corp boosted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 7.8% during the 1st quarter. Lincoln National Corp now owns 34,790 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $16,894,000 after purchasing an additional 2,504 shares in the last quarter. Finally, BCGM Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 5.3% in the 1st quarter. BCGM Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,311 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $637,000 after purchasing an additional 66 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

Shares of META stock opened at $591.80 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 2.83, a quick ratio of 2.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. The company has a market cap of $1.50 trillion, a PE ratio of 33.99, a P/E/G ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.22. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $554.49 and its 200-day simple moving average is $512.18. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 52 week low of $296.86 and a 52 week high of $602.95.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 31st. The social networking company reported $5.16 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.70 by $0.46. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 34.16% and a net margin of 34.34%. The company had revenue of $39.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $38.26 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $3.23 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 22.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 21.44 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 26th. Investors of record on Monday, September 16th were given a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.34%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 16th. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 11.49%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

META has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Scotiabank began coverage on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Friday, October 11th. They set a “sector perform” rating and a $585.00 price objective on the stock. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on Meta Platforms from $475.00 to $525.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price objective on Meta Platforms from $525.00 to $585.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Pivotal Research assumed coverage on Meta Platforms in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. They set a “buy” rating and a $780.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $600.00 target price on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday, September 26th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, thirty-five have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $621.63.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, COO Javier Olivan sold 413 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $574.16, for a total transaction of $237,128.08. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 10,707 shares in the company, valued at $6,147,531.12. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, COO Javier Olivan sold 413 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $574.16, for a total transaction of $237,128.08. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 10,707 shares in the company, valued at $6,147,531.12. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 901 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $451.15, for a total value of $406,486.15. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 33,324 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,034,122.60. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 250,818 shares of company stock worth $132,569,993 in the last 90 days. 13.71% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.