Foster Victor Wealth Advisors LLC Acquires 18,672 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Foster Victor Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 384.5% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 23,528 shares of the social networking company’s stock after acquiring an additional 18,672 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms makes up about 1.0% of Foster Victor Wealth Advisors LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 29th biggest holding. Foster Victor Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $13,894,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Meta Platforms by 0.4% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 187,180,393 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $90,891,055,000 after purchasing an additional 831,047 shares during the period. Capital World Investors boosted its stake in Meta Platforms by 0.6% in the 1st quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 38,299,316 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $18,597,382,000 after purchasing an additional 244,803 shares during the period. Capital Research Global Investors boosted its stake in Meta Platforms by 14.5% in the 1st quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 34,597,001 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $16,799,612,000 after purchasing an additional 4,379,826 shares during the period. Jennison Associates LLC boosted its stake in Meta Platforms by 24.7% in the 1st quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 13,867,398 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $6,733,731,000 after purchasing an additional 2,748,620 shares during the period. Finally, GQG Partners LLC boosted its stake in Meta Platforms by 3.1% in the 1st quarter. GQG Partners LLC now owns 11,497,335 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $5,582,876,000 after purchasing an additional 342,742 shares during the period. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Meta Platforms

In related news, COO Javier Olivan sold 412 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $474.86, for a total transaction of $195,642.32. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 5,971 shares in the company, valued at $2,835,389.06. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $489.80, for a total transaction of $443,269.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 35,130 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $17,206,674. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 412 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $474.86, for a total value of $195,642.32. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 5,971 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,835,389.06. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 250,239 shares of company stock worth $132,033,148 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Trading Down 0.7 %

NASDAQ META opened at $586.27 on Wednesday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $542.26 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $507.12. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12 month low of $279.40 and a 12 month high of $602.95. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.49 trillion, a PE ratio of 33.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.45 and a beta of 1.22. The company has a current ratio of 2.83, a quick ratio of 2.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The social networking company reported $5.16 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.70 by $0.46. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 34.16% and a net margin of 34.34%. The firm had revenue of $39.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $38.26 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $3.23 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 22.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 21.37 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 26th. Investors 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.34%. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is 11.49%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently issued reports on META shares. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $660.00 price target on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Monday, October 7th. Monness Crespi & Hardt boosted their price target on Meta Platforms from $570.00 to $620.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, September 30th. Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $600.00 price target on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday, September 26th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $570.00 price target on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, Loop Capital lifted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $575.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 6th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, thirty-five have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $613.46.

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.