Whalen Wealth Management Inc. Boosts Position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Whalen Wealth Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 8.4% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 6,727 shares of the social networking company’s stock after acquiring an additional 524 shares during the period. Meta Platforms accounts for about 2.7% of Whalen Wealth Management Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 8th biggest position. Whalen Wealth Management Inc.’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $3,851,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. POM Investment Strategies LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the 2nd quarter worth about $38,000. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 122.2% in the second quarter. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. now owns 80 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $40,000 after purchasing an additional 44 shares during the last quarter. Halpern Financial Inc. bought a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the third quarter valued at approximately $46,000. West Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the third quarter valued at approximately $49,000. Finally, NewSquare Capital LLC grew its holdings in Meta Platforms by 221.9% during the second quarter. NewSquare Capital LLC now owns 103 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $52,000 after buying an additional 71 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Susan J. Li sold 33,018 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $517.94, for a total value of $17,101,342.92. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 620 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $557.00, for a total transaction of $345,340.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 19,992 shares in the company, valued at $11,135,544. The trade was a 3.01 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 168,843 shares of company stock valued at $92,083,554. Insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

NASDAQ:META opened at $563.09 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.42 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.52, a P/E/G ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a quick ratio of 2.73 and a current ratio of 2.73. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $572.05 and a 200 day moving average of $523.31. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 52-week low of $313.66 and a 52-week high of $602.95.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The social networking company reported $6.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.19 by $0.84. The company had revenue of $40.59 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $40.21 billion. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 35.55% and a return on equity of 35.60%. On average, research analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 22.53 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 26th. Investors of record on Monday, September 16th were issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.36%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 16th. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is currently 9.42%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

META has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $600.00 price objective on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday, September 26th. DA Davidson started coverage on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Tuesday, September 10th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $600.00 price objective for the company. Roth Mkm lifted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $620.00 to $635.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed an “underperform” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on Meta Platforms from $555.00 to $636.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, October 14th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, thirty-five have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Meta Platforms currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $634.10.

Meta Platforms Company 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.