Great Lakes Retirement Inc. Purchases 2,879 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Great Lakes Retirement Inc. boosted its position in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 47.3% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 8,961 shares of the social networking company’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,879 shares during the quarter. Great Lakes Retirement Inc.’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $5,130,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Delos Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 527.3% during the 1st quarter. Delos Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 69 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 58 shares during the period. POM Investment Strategies LLC purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the second quarter worth $38,000. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 122.2% during the second quarter. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. now owns 80 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $40,000 after acquiring an additional 44 shares during the last quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. grew its stake in Meta Platforms by 95.6% during the first quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. now owns 88 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $41,000 after acquiring an additional 43 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Kathleen S. Wright Associates Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the first quarter valued at about $44,000. Institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

META has been the topic of several recent research reports. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on Meta Platforms from $475.00 to $525.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. DA Davidson started coverage on Meta Platforms in a research report on Tuesday, September 10th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $600.00 price target for the company. Sanford C. Bernstein increased their price target on Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $675.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday. Tigress Financial increased their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $575.00 to $645.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 16th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on Meta Platforms from $590.00 to $663.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, October 14th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, thirty-five have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $621.63.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 492 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, October 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $600.75, for a total transaction of $295,569.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 518,508 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $311,493,681. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 492 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $600.75, for a total value of $295,569.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 518,508 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $311,493,681. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Susan J. Li sold 8,950 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 250,817 shares of company stock valued at $132,547,715. Company insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Stock Up 1.0 %

Meta Platforms stock opened at $573.25 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $1.45 trillion, a P/E ratio of 32.93, a PEG ratio of 1.45 and a beta of 1.22. 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 fifty-two week low of $279.40 and a fifty-two week high of $602.95. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $551.05 and a 200-day simple moving average of $510.76.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 31st. The social networking company reported $5.16 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 22.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $3.23 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 21.37 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 26th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 16th were given a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 16th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.35%. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is 11.49%.

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.