KBC Group NV Buys 280,266 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

KBC Group NV grew its stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 16.5% during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,976,357 shares of the social networking company's stock after acquiring an additional 280,266 shares during the period. Meta Platforms accounts for 3.4% of KBC Group NV's holdings, making the stock its 6th biggest holding. KBC Group NV owned about 0.08% of Meta Platforms worth $1,131,347,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

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

Insider Transactions at Meta Platforms

In other Meta Platforms news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 16,702 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $533.24, for a total transaction of $8,906,174.48. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 28,838 shares of the company's stock, valued at $15,377,575.12. The trade was a 36.68 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Christopher K. Cox sold 20,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $557.52, for a total transaction of $11,150,400.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 338,662 shares in the company, valued at approximately $188,810,838.24. This trade represents a 5.58 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 141,498 shares of company stock worth $75,732,154. Company insiders own 13.71% of the company's stock.

Meta Platforms Stock Up 0.2 %

Meta Platforms stock traded up $1.20 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $555.28. The stock had a trading volume of 10,076,069 shares, compared to its average volume of 15,042,730. 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 market cap of $1.40 trillion, a P/E ratio of 26.26, a P/E/G ratio of 1.23 and a beta of 1.22. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12 month low of $313.66 and a 12 month high of $602.95. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $568.11 and a 200 day moving average price of $521.17.

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

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 26th. Stockholders 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 of this dividend was Monday, September 16th. Meta Platforms's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 9.42%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Susquehanna raised their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $675.00 and gave the stock a "positive" rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $555.00 to $636.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, October 14th. 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 note on Thursday, October 31st. Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $645.00 to $705.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Hsbc Global Res upgraded shares of Meta Platforms to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, thirty-five have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $634.10.

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.