Claro Advisors LLC Purchases 2,613 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Claro Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 18.2% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 16,966 shares of the social networking company's stock after acquiring an additional 2,613 shares during the period. Meta Platforms comprises approximately 1.3% of Claro Advisors LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 14th largest position. Claro Advisors LLC's holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $9,712,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. Central Valley Advisors LLC grew its position in Meta Platforms by 0.3% in the third quarter. Central Valley Advisors LLC now owns 5,714 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $3,271,000 after acquiring an additional 18 shares during the last quarter. Cherrydale Wealth Management LLC grew its position in Meta Platforms by 0.5% in the third quarter. Cherrydale Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,841 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $2,199,000 after acquiring an additional 18 shares during the last quarter. Alliance Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in Meta Platforms by 0.7% in the third quarter. Alliance Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,787 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $1,595,000 after acquiring an additional 18 shares during the last quarter. Kozak & Associates Inc. grew its position in Meta Platforms by 1.0% in the third quarter. Kozak & Associates Inc. now owns 1,906 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $1,099,000 after acquiring an additional 18 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC grew its position in Meta Platforms by 0.5% in the third quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 3,560 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $2,038,000 after acquiring an additional 18 shares during the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Meta Platforms Trading Up 0.8 %

Shares of NASDAQ META traded up $4.45 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $565.54. 7,168,296 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 15,002,179. The company has a market capitalization of $1.43 trillion, a P/E ratio of 26.23, a P/E/G ratio of 1.23 and a beta of 1.22. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 52-week low of $313.66 and a 52-week high of $602.95. The company has a current ratio of 2.73, a quick ratio of 2.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $570.23 and a 200-day moving average price of $522.73.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The social networking company reported $6.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $5.19 by $0.84. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 35.55% and a return on equity of 35.60%. The firm had revenue of $40.59 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $40.21 billion. Equities research analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 22.53 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The firm 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 16th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.35%. Meta Platforms's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 9.42%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price target on Meta Platforms from $525.00 to $585.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. KeyCorp boosted their price target on Meta Platforms from $560.00 to $655.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on Meta Platforms from $652.00 to $641.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 1st. Tigress Financial upped their target price on Meta Platforms from $575.00 to $645.00 and gave the company a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Friday, August 16th. Finally, Raymond James upped their target price on Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $650.00 and gave the company a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. 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 assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Meta Platforms presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $634.10.

Insider Transactions at Meta Platforms

In related news, COO Javier Olivan sold 620 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $557.00, for a total value of $345,340.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 19,992 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,135,544. This represents a 3.01 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 492 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $600.75, for a total value 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 represents a 0.09 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 185,958 shares of company stock valued at $101,181,747. Corporate insiders own 13.71% of the company's stock.

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.