Valley National Advisers Inc. Grows Position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Valley National Advisers Inc. raised its position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 21.0% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 8,553 shares of the social networking company’s stock after buying an additional 1,484 shares during the period. Meta Platforms makes up approximately 0.9% of Valley National Advisers Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 19th biggest holding. Valley National Advisers Inc.’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $4,895,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Delos Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 527.3% during the first quarter. Delos Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 69 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 58 shares in the last quarter. POM Investment Strategies LLC purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms during the 2nd quarter worth about $38,000. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 122.2% during the 2nd quarter. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. now owns 80 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $40,000 after acquiring an additional 44 shares in the last quarter. Halpern Financial Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the 3rd quarter valued at about $46,000. Finally, West Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the 3rd quarter worth about $49,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Trading Up 2.6 %

Shares of META opened at $593.28 on Wednesday. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $553.36 and its two-hundred day moving average is $511.61. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a twelve month low of $296.86 and a twelve month high of $602.95. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $1.50 trillion, a P/E ratio of 34.08, a PEG ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.22.

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

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 26th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 16th were given a $0.50 dividend. 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 is currently 11.49%.

Insider Transactions at Meta Platforms

In related news, COO Javier Olivan sold 413 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $574.16, for a total value of $237,128.08. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 10,707 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,147,531.12. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other Meta Platforms news, COO Javier Olivan sold 413 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $574.16, for a total value of $237,128.08. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 10,707 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,147,531.12. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 5,057 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $526.76, for a total transaction of $2,663,825.32. Following the transaction, the chief technology officer now directly owns 11,990 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,315,852.40. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 251,230 shares of company stock valued at $132,784,843 in the last 90 days. 13.71% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on META shares. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $575.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Pivotal Research began coverage on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. They issued a “buy” rating and a $780.00 target price on the stock. Rosenblatt Securities boosted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $643.00 to $811.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 26th. Loop Capital upped their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $575.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 6th. Finally, Guggenheim lifted their target price on Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $665.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, October 7th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, thirty-five have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $621.63.

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.