Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) Shares Purchased by Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc.

Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 0.9% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 13,827,565 shares of the social networking company's stock after buying an additional 118,298 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms accounts for about 1.5% of Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc.'s portfolio, making the stock its 6th largest position. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. owned approximately 0.55% of Meta Platforms worth $7,915,451,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. LS Investment Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Meta Platforms by 111.4% in the 3rd quarter. LS Investment Advisors LLC now owns 11,679 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $6,686,000 after buying an additional 6,155 shares during the period. Gradient Investments LLC boosted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 8.9% in the second quarter. Gradient Investments LLC now owns 72,587 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $36,600,000 after purchasing an additional 5,953 shares during the last quarter. Cutter & CO Brokerage Inc. grew its position in Meta Platforms by 0.7% during the 3rd quarter. Cutter & CO Brokerage Inc. now owns 9,735 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $5,573,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares during the period. Stanley Laman Group Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 26.5% during the 2nd quarter. Stanley Laman Group Ltd. now owns 1,678 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $846,000 after buying an additional 352 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Janney Montgomery Scott LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.4% in the 3rd quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 412,046 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $235,872,000 after buying an additional 5,594 shares during the period. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently commented on the company. KeyCorp raised their target price on Meta Platforms from $560.00 to $655.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $590.00 to $663.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, October 14th. JMP Securities increased their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $635.00 to $660.00 and gave the stock a "market outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $675.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Finally, Evercore ISI increased their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $600.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Two 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, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $634.10.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

Shares of META traded down $3.95 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $559.14. 9,164,004 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 13,967,285. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 52-week low of $313.66 and a 52-week high of $602.95. The company has a quick ratio of 2.73, a current ratio of 2.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $572.74 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $524.35. The company has a market cap of $1.41 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.34, a PEG ratio of 1.25 and a beta of 1.22.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The social networking company reported $6.03 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $5.19 by $0.84. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 35.60% and a net margin of 35.55%. The business had revenue of $40.59 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $40.21 billion. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 22.53 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

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

Insider Transactions at Meta Platforms

In related news, CAO Aaron Anderson sold 731 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $557.00, for a total transaction of $407,167.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 3,414 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,901,598. This represents a 17.64 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Susan J. Li sold 33,018 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $517.94, for a total transaction of $17,101,342.92. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 168,843 shares of company stock worth $92,083,554 over the last quarter. 13.71% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.