SS&H Financial Advisors Inc. Purchases Shares of 1,636 Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

SS&H Financial Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 1,636 shares of the social networking company’s stock, valued at approximately $937,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Vista Investment Management bought a new position in Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter worth $288,000. Nebula Research & Development LLC acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $913,000. Kestra Advisory Services LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 14.4% during the 4th quarter. Kestra Advisory Services LLC now owns 106,183 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $37,585,000 after acquiring an additional 13,396 shares during the period. Lone Pine Capital LLC raised its position in Meta Platforms by 3.4% during the fourth quarter. Lone Pine Capital LLC now owns 2,873,728 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $1,017,185,000 after purchasing an additional 94,625 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Gibson Capital LLC bought a new stake in Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter worth $987,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:META traded down $4.20 during trading on Thursday, hitting $586.31. The stock had a trading volume of 2,902,471 shares, compared to its average volume of 15,371,101. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $534.36 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $504.36. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.49 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.63, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 1.22. 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 12-month low of $279.40 and a 12-month high of $602.95.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last released its quarterly 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. The company had revenue of $39.07 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $38.26 billion. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 34.16% and a net margin of 34.34%. Meta Platforms’s quarterly revenue was up 22.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $3.23 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 21.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 26th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 16th were issued 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 of this dividend was Monday, September 16th. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is 11.49%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently commented on META shares. Sanford C. Bernstein increased their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $565.00 to $575.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, July 22nd. Loop Capital lifted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $575.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 6th. Monness Crespi & Hardt raised their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $570.00 to $620.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, September 30th. Robert W. Baird raised their target price on Meta Platforms from $530.00 to $605.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 26th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $570.00 price objective on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, thirty-five have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $608.58.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Susan J. Li sold 8,950 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $526.76, for a total transaction of $4,714,502.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 74,579 shares in the company, valued at $39,285,234.04. 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 this hyperlink. In other Meta Platforms news, CFO Susan J. Li sold 33,018 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $517.94, for a total transaction of $17,101,342.92. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Susan J. Li sold 8,950 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $526.76, for a total transaction of $4,714,502.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 74,579 shares in the company, valued at $39,285,234.04. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 266,412 shares of company stock worth $140,058,708 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

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.