Halpern Financial Inc. Makes New Investment in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Halpern Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund purchased 81 shares of the social networking company’s stock, valued at approximately $46,000.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Baird Financial Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 24.2% during the fourth quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 835,972 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $295,901,000 after buying an additional 163,067 shares during the period. Voyager Global Management LP boosted its position in Meta Platforms by 37.3% during the 4th quarter. Voyager Global Management LP now owns 515,000 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $182,289,000 after acquiring an additional 140,000 shares during the period. Gradient Investments LLC grew its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 8.9% in the second quarter. Gradient Investments LLC now owns 72,587 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $36,600,000 after purchasing an additional 5,953 shares in the last quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. raised its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 14.0% during the first quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. now owns 6,101,501 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $2,962,767,000 after purchasing an additional 748,076 shares in the last quarter. Finally, ERn Financial LLC raised its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 59.0% during the first quarter. ERn Financial LLC now owns 1,652 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $802,000 after purchasing an additional 613 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $578.55, for a total transaction of $523,587.75. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 35,102 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $20,308,262.10. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other Meta Platforms news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $578.55, for a total transaction of $523,587.75. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 35,102 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,308,262.10. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 413 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $570.00, for a total value of $235,410.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 12,359 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,044,630. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 300,228 shares of company stock valued at $158,005,260 over the last 90 days. 13.71% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Meta Platforms Stock Up 2.3 %

Shares of Meta Platforms stock traded up $13.17 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $595.94. 14,199,788 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 15,523,651. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a quick ratio of 2.83 and a current ratio of 2.83. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 52 week low of $279.40 and a 52 week high of $596.85. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $527.07 and its 200 day simple moving average is $502.60. The company has a market cap of $1.51 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 1.22.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last posted its earnings results 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 company had revenue of $39.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $38.26 billion. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 34.16% and a net margin of 34.34%. The business’s revenue was up 22.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $3.23 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 21.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 26th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 16th were issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 16th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.34%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 11.49%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have commented on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $525.00 to $585.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. KeyCorp upped their target price on Meta Platforms from $540.00 to $560.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $575.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $600.00 price objective on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday, September 26th. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities lifted their target price on Meta Platforms from $643.00 to $811.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, September 26th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, thirty-five have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $598.08.

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.