ING Groep NV Raises Stock Holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

ING Groep NV grew its holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 21.1% in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,068,424 shares of the social networking company's stock after buying an additional 186,219 shares during the period. Meta Platforms accounts for about 3.6% of ING Groep NV's holdings, making the stock its 6th biggest holding. ING Groep NV's holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $611,609,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of META. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 48.8% in the first quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 49,191 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $23,886,000 after purchasing an additional 16,138 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC increased its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 22.4% in the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 67,195 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $32,629,000 after acquiring an additional 12,301 shares during the period. Cypress Asset Management Inc. TX grew its position in Meta Platforms by 541.8% in the 1st quarter. Cypress Asset Management Inc. TX now owns 3,819 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $1,862,000 after buying an additional 3,224 shares during the last quarter. First Foundation Advisors grew its position in Meta Platforms by 2.4% in the 1st quarter. First Foundation Advisors now owns 20,020 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $9,722,000 after buying an additional 472 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Councilmark Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the 1st quarter worth $1,456,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.91% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

META has been the subject of several research reports. DA Davidson initiated coverage on Meta Platforms in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. They set a "buy" rating and a $600.00 price target for the company. Rosenblatt Securities reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $811.00 price target on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $575.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Bank of America boosted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $630.00 to $660.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an "overweight" rating and issued a $670.00 target price on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, thirty-five have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $634.10.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Meta Platforms news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 16,702 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $533.24, for a total value of $8,906,174.48. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 28,838 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $15,377,575.12. This represents a 36.68 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $528.38, for a total value of $478,183.90. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 40,532 shares in the company, valued at approximately $21,416,298.16. This represents a 2.18 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 141,498 shares of company stock worth $75,732,154 over the last three months. 13.71% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Meta Platforms Stock Up 0.3 %

NASDAQ:META traded up $1.64 on Monday, hitting $555.72. 10,358,277 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 15,043,996. The company has a market cap of $1.40 trillion, a PE ratio of 26.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.23 and a beta of 1.22. 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 firm has a 50-day moving average price of $568.11 and a 200-day moving average price of $521.17. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1 year low of $313.66 and a 1 year high of $602.95.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The social networking company reported $6.03 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 analyst estimates of $40.21 billion. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 35.60% and a net margin of 35.55%. Equities analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 22.53 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed 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. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 16th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.36%. Meta Platforms's dividend payout ratio is currently 9.42%.

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.