Chesley Taft & Associates LLC Has $20.99 Million Holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Chesley Taft & Associates LLC decreased its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 36,675 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 135 shares during the quarter. Chesley Taft & Associates LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $20,994,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of META. Capital Research Global Investors raised its stake in Meta Platforms by 14.5% during the first quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 34,597,001 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $16,799,612,000 after acquiring an additional 4,379,826 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in Meta Platforms by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 186,349,346 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $65,960,215,000 after acquiring an additional 3,104,550 shares in the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC raised its stake in Meta Platforms by 24.7% during the first quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 13,867,398 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $6,733,731,000 after acquiring an additional 2,748,620 shares in the last quarter. Sustainable Growth Advisers LP acquired a new position in Meta Platforms during the second quarter worth about $595,152,000. Finally, Global Assets Advisory LLC acquired a new position in Meta Platforms during the first quarter worth about $515,383,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have commented on META shares. Loop Capital boosted their target price on Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $575.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 6th. Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on Meta Platforms from $530.00 to $605.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, September 26th. Evercore ISI boosted their price target on Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $600.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. BMO Capital Markets restated a “market perform” rating and set a $450.00 price target on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Wednesday, June 12th. Finally, Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and set a $600.00 price target on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday, September 26th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating, thirty-five have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $601.08.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:META opened at $584.78 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 2.83, a current ratio of 2.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a twelve month low of $279.40 and a twelve month high of $602.95. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $529.45 and its 200-day moving average is $503.17. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.48 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.59, a PEG ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 1.22.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The social networking company reported $5.16 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.70 by $0.46. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 34.16% and a net margin of 34.34%. The company had revenue of $39.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $38.26 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $3.23 earnings per share. Meta Platforms’s revenue for the quarter was up 22.1% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 21.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 26th. Stockholders 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 dividend yield of 0.34%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 16th. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is 11.49%.

Insider Activity at Meta Platforms

In related news, CFO Susan J. Li sold 8,950 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $526.76, for a total value of $4,714,502.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 74,579 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $39,285,234.04. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $578.55, for a total value 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 SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Susan J. Li sold 8,950 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $526.76, for a total value of $4,714,502.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 74,579 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $39,285,234.04. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 282,621 shares of company stock valued at $148,657,449. 13.71% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.