Fairfield Financial Advisors LTD Acquires 27 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Fairfield Financial Advisors LTD raised its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 3.9% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 725 shares of the social networking company’s stock after acquiring an additional 27 shares during the quarter. Fairfield Financial Advisors LTD’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $415,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in META. Benchmark Financial Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.6% in the 1st quarter. Benchmark Financial Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 3,269 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $1,587,000 after buying an additional 50 shares during the last quarter. Edge Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $270,000. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 48.8% in the 1st quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 49,191 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $23,886,000 after buying an additional 16,138 shares during the last quarter. SeaBridge Investment Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 234.1% in the 1st quarter. SeaBridge Investment Advisors LLC now owns 8,723 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $4,236,000 after buying an additional 6,112 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Diversify Advisory Services LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $22,878,000. 79.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $532.21, for a total value of $481,650.05. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 41,437 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $22,053,185.77. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 5,057 shares of the company’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 value of $2,663,825.32. Following the sale, the chief technology officer now directly owns 11,990 shares in the company, valued at $6,315,852.40. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $532.21, for a total value of $481,650.05. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 41,437 shares in the company, valued at $22,053,185.77. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 251,092 shares of company stock valued at $132,865,496 over the last quarter. 13.71% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently commented on META. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Meta Platforms from $640.00 to $660.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday. TD Securities lifted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $530.00 to $600.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 10th. Mizuho lifted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $650.00 to $675.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday. Wolfe Research initiated coverage on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Tuesday, July 16th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $620.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $525.00 to $585.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, thirty-five have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Meta Platforms has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $634.10.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

Meta Platforms stock opened at $567.16 on Monday. The business has a 50 day moving average of $555.99 and a 200-day moving average of $513.25. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1 year low of $308.33 and a 1 year high of $602.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a current ratio of 2.73 and a quick ratio of 2.83. The company has a market capitalization of $1.43 trillion, a P/E ratio of 26.72, a P/E/G ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 1.22.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The social networking company reported $6.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.19 by $0.84. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 35.60% and a net margin of 35.55%. The company had revenue of $40.59 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $40.21 billion. On average, equities research analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 21.84 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

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

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.