Blackston Financial Advisory Group LLC Boosts Position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Blackston Financial Advisory Group LLC increased its holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 4.0% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,206 shares of the social networking company’s stock after acquiring an additional 85 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms comprises approximately 0.7% of Blackston Financial Advisory Group LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 24th biggest position. Blackston Financial Advisory Group LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $1,263,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in META. Heritage Financial Services LLC lifted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 21.1% in the third quarter. Heritage Financial Services LLC now owns 655 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $375,000 after buying an additional 114 shares during the period. Ballentine Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 3.4% in the 3rd quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 57,410 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $32,864,000 after acquiring an additional 1,883 shares in the last quarter. Freedom Day Solutions LLC purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $226,000. Heritage Oak Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 318.3% during the third quarter. Heritage Oak Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 3,836 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $2,196,000 after purchasing an additional 2,919 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Silver Oak Securities Incorporated grew its stake in Meta Platforms by 11.6% in the third quarter. Silver Oak Securities Incorporated now owns 6,279 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $3,505,000 after purchasing an additional 651 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 84 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $600.00, for a total value of $50,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 518,424 shares in the company, valued at approximately $311,054,400. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, CFO Susan J. Li sold 8,950 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the chief financial officer now owns 74,579 shares in the company, valued at approximately $39,285,234.04. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 84 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $600.00, for a total transaction of $50,400.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 518,424 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $311,054,400. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 250,817 shares of company stock valued at $132,547,715 over the last ninety days. 13.71% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently commented on META. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $610.00 to $640.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, September 26th. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $635.00 to $690.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, October 7th. Truist Financial lifted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $570.00 to $650.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Roth Mkm raised their price objective on Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $620.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 11th. Finally, Barclays boosted their target price on Meta Platforms from $520.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued 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 MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $621.63.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

NASDAQ META opened at $573.25 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a current ratio of 2.83 and a quick ratio of 2.83. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1-year low of $279.40 and a 1-year high of $602.95. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $551.05 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $510.65. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.45 trillion, a PE ratio of 29.26, a P/E/G ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.22.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The social networking company reported $5.16 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.70 by $0.46. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 34.34% and a return on equity of 34.16%. The company had revenue of $39.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $38.26 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $3.23 earnings per share. Meta Platforms’s quarterly revenue was up 22.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 21.44 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 26th. Investors of record on Monday, September 16th were given a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 16th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.35%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is currently 10.21%.

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.