Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC Buys 38 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 48.7% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 116 shares of the social networking company’s stock after acquiring an additional 38 shares during the period. Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $66,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in META. Gradient Investments LLC raised its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 8.9% during the 2nd quarter. Gradient Investments LLC now owns 72,587 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $36,600,000 after buying an additional 5,953 shares in the last quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. grew its position in 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 acquiring an additional 748,076 shares during the last quarter. 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 worth $802,000 after acquiring an additional 613 shares in the last quarter. Stanley Laman Group Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 26.5% in the 2nd quarter. Stanley Laman Group Ltd. now owns 1,678 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $846,000 after acquiring an additional 352 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Lincoln National Corp boosted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 7.8% in the 1st quarter. Lincoln National Corp now owns 34,790 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $16,894,000 after purchasing an additional 2,504 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Trading Up 1.2 %

NASDAQ:META opened at $582.01 on Wednesday. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 52 week low of $279.40 and a 52 week high of $602.95. The stock has a market cap of $1.48 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.43, a PEG ratio of 1.45 and a beta of 1.22. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $547.72 and its 200-day moving average price is $509.22. 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 (NASDAQ:META) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The social networking company reported $5.16 EPS 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 business had revenue of $39.07 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $38.26 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $3.23 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 22.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 21.37 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 26th. Investors of record on Monday, September 16th were issued a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.34%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 16th. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is currently 11.49%.

Insider Transactions at Meta Platforms

In other Meta Platforms news, COO Javier Olivan sold 413 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $580.65, for a total transaction of $239,808.45. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 11,120 shares in the company, valued at $6,456,828. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, COO Javier Olivan sold 413 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $580.65, for a total transaction of $239,808.45. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 11,120 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,456,828. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale 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 stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 250,324 shares of company stock worth $132,218,368 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

META has been the subject of several recent research reports. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $475.00 to $525.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Mizuho raised their price target on Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Roth Mkm increased their price objective on Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $620.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 11th. Wolfe Research assumed coverage on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Tuesday, July 16th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $620.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $575.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, thirty-five have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $619.20.

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.