Kennedy Investment Group Buys 442 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Kennedy Investment Group raised its stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 20.0% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 2,651 shares of the social networking company’s stock after acquiring an additional 442 shares during the quarter. Kennedy Investment Group’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $1,517,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of META. Capital Research Global Investors grew its position in Meta Platforms by 14.5% in the first quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 34,597,001 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $16,799,612,000 after acquiring an additional 4,379,826 shares during the period. Jennison Associates LLC grew its holdings in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 2,748,620 shares during the last quarter. Sustainable Growth Advisers LP bought a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the second quarter worth $595,152,000. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.4% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 187,180,393 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $90,891,055,000 after purchasing an additional 831,047 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board grew its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 30.0% during the first quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 3,411,009 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $1,656,318,000 after purchasing an additional 788,131 shares during the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently commented on META. Evercore ISI increased their target price on Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $600.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Oppenheimer increased their target price on Meta Platforms from $525.00 to $615.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and set a $670.00 target price on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Meta Platforms from $647.00 to $652.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Finally, Mizuho upped their price target on Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $650.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, thirty-five have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $619.20.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, COO Javier Olivan sold 413 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $580.65, for a total transaction of $239,808.45. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 11,120 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,456,828. The trade was 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. In related news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 84 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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. The trade was 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, COO Javier Olivan sold 413 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, October 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $580.65, for a total value of $239,808.45. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 11,120 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,456,828. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 250,324 shares of company stock valued at $132,218,368 in the last 90 days. 13.71% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Meta Platforms Stock Up 1.2 %

NASDAQ:META opened at $582.01 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.48 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.45 and a beta of 1.22. 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 price is $547.72 and its two-hundred 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 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. The firm had revenue of $39.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $38.26 billion. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 34.16% and a net margin of 34.34%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 22.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $3.23 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 21.37 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared 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. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.34%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 16th. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 11.49%.

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.