III Capital Management Buys 1,550 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

III Capital Management lifted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 71.3% in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 3,724 shares of the social networking company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,550 shares during the period. III Capital Management’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $2,132,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. POM Investment Strategies LLC purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the 2nd quarter valued at about $38,000. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 122.2% during the second 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 during the third quarter worth approximately $46,000. West Financial Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $49,000. Finally, NewSquare Capital LLC grew its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 221.9% during the 2nd quarter. NewSquare Capital LLC now owns 103 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $52,000 after purchasing an additional 71 shares during the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Meta Platforms

In other news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 492 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, October 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $600.75, for a total value of $295,569.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 518,508 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $311,493,681. This trade represents a 0.09 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 413 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $522.00, for a total value of $215,586.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 13,598 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,098,156. This represents a 2.95 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 105,334 shares of company stock worth $59,210,941 over the last quarter. Insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Trading Up 0.3 %

Shares of NASDAQ:META traded up $1.50 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $594.33. 1,022,314 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 14,804,930. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $575.21 and its 200-day simple moving average is $528.08. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.50 trillion, a PE ratio of 27.92, a P/E/G ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 1.20. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12-month low of $313.66 and a 12-month 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 2.73.

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 analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.19 by $0.84. The firm 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%. On average, research analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 22.62 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.34%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 16th. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is currently 9.42%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have issued reports on the stock. Guggenheim upped their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $665.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, October 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Meta Platforms from $640.00 to $660.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Citigroup increased their price objective on Meta Platforms from $645.00 to $705.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Monness Crespi & Hardt lifted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $620.00 to $660.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Barclays upped their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $630.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Two equities research 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 given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $634.71.

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.