AustralianSuper Pty Ltd Purchases 374,981 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

AustralianSuper Pty Ltd boosted its position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 51.1% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 1,109,444 shares of the social networking company’s stock after purchasing an additional 374,981 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms comprises approximately 3.2% of AustralianSuper Pty Ltd’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 6th largest position. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $635,090,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its stake in Meta Platforms by 57,001.5% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 9,517,111 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $5,447,975,000 after acquiring an additional 9,500,444 shares in the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors grew its stake in Meta Platforms by 14.5% during the 1st quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 34,597,001 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $16,799,612,000 after acquiring an additional 4,379,826 shares in the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC grew its stake in Meta Platforms by 24.7% during the 1st quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 13,867,398 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $6,733,731,000 after acquiring an additional 2,748,620 shares in the last quarter. Sustainable Growth Advisers LP purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms during the 2nd quarter valued at about $595,152,000. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in Meta Platforms by 0.4% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 187,180,393 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $90,891,055,000 after acquiring an additional 831,047 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Meta Platforms

In related news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 492 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, October 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $600.75, for a total value of $295,569.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 518,508 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $311,493,681. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 492 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, October 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $600.75, for a total value of $295,569.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 518,508 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $311,493,681. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $580.10, for a total transaction of $524,990.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 31,482 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,262,708.20. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 251,092 shares of company stock valued at $132,865,496 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Trading Down 0.1 %

Shares of NASDAQ:META opened at $567.16 on Monday. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 52 week low of $308.33 and a 52 week high of $602.95. The company’s 50 day moving average is $555.99 and its two-hundred day moving average is $513.25. The company has a current ratio of 2.73, a quick ratio of 2.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18. The company has a market cap of $1.43 trillion, a PE ratio of 26.72, a P/E/G ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 1.22.

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. The company had revenue of $40.59 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $40.21 billion. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 35.55% and a return on equity of 35.60%. Equities analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 21.84 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 26th. Investors 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 0.35%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 16th. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 9.42%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

META has been the subject of several analyst reports. Mizuho increased their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $650.00 to $675.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday. Rosenblatt Securities reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $811.00 price target on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday. Truist Financial increased their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $570.00 to $650.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. DA Davidson initiated coverage on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $600.00 price target for the company. Finally, Scotiabank dropped their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $585.00 to $583.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, thirty-five have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $634.10.

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.