Austin Wealth Management LLC Grows Stock Position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Austin Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 1.4% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,526 shares of the social networking company’s stock after acquiring an additional 21 shares during the quarter. Austin Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $889,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Delos Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings 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 during the period. POM Investment Strategies LLC bought a new position in Meta Platforms during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $38,000. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 122.2% in the 2nd quarter. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. now owns 80 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $40,000 after buying an additional 44 shares during the last quarter. Halpern Financial Inc. bought a new stake in Meta Platforms in the third quarter valued at $46,000. Finally, West Financial Advisors LLC bought a new position in Meta Platforms in the third quarter worth about $49,000. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Meta Platforms Stock Down 0.1 %

Shares of META stock opened at $567.16 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a current ratio of 2.73 and a quick ratio of 2.83. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a one year low of $308.33 and a one year high of $602.95. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $555.99 and its 200-day moving average price is $513.25. The company has a market capitalization of $1.43 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.72, a PEG ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 1.22.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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. The business had revenue of $40.59 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $40.21 billion. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 35.60% and a net margin of 35.55%. Sell-side analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 21.84 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 26th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 16th were paid a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 16th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.35%. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is 9.42%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

META has been the topic of several recent research reports. Mizuho upped their price target on Meta Platforms from $650.00 to $675.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $525.00 to $585.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Bank of America raised their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $630.00 to $660.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday. Roth Mkm upped their price target on Meta Platforms from $620.00 to $635.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Scotiabank lowered their price objective on Meta Platforms from $585.00 to $583.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday. Two investment 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 issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $634.10.

Insider Buying and Selling at Meta Platforms

In related news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 84 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, October 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $600.00, for a total transaction of $50,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 518,424 shares in the company, valued at approximately $311,054,400. This 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 can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other Meta Platforms news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $580.10, for a total transaction of $524,990.50. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 31,482 shares in the company, valued at $18,262,708.20. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 84 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $600.00, for a total value of $50,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 518,424 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $311,054,400. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 251,092 shares of company stock valued at $132,865,496 in the last three months. 13.71% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.