Beaumont Financial Advisors LLC Increases Holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Beaumont Financial Advisors LLC increased its stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 1.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 36,754 shares of the social networking company’s stock after purchasing an additional 635 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms makes up approximately 1.6% of Beaumont Financial Advisors LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 21st biggest holding. Beaumont Financial Advisors LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $21,520,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 57,001.5% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 9,517,111 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $5,447,975,000 after buying an additional 9,500,444 shares during the period. Integrated Investment Consultants LLC raised its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 61,769.3% during the 3rd quarter. Integrated Investment Consultants LLC now owns 4,132,870 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $2,365,820,000 after buying an additional 4,126,190 shares in the last quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Meta Platforms by 4,658.5% during the third quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC now owns 909,548 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $520,662,000 after purchasing an additional 890,434 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Meta Platforms by 1.5% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 48,160,608 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $27,470,870,000 after buying an additional 698,884 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund boosted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 926.6% in the 2nd quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund now owns 733,358 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $369,774,000 after purchasing an additional 661,923 shares in the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Meta Platforms Stock Up 1.7 %

Shares of META opened at $647.49 on Friday. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 52-week low of $385.66 and a 52-week high of $652.00. The company has a market cap of $1.63 trillion, a PE ratio of 30.50, a P/E/G ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.19. 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 business has a fifty day moving average of $601.93 and a 200 day moving average of $560.12.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The social networking company reported $6.03 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.19 by $0.84. The business had revenue of $40.59 billion for 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%. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 22.96 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 27th. Investors of record on Monday, December 16th were issued a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 16th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.31%. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is currently 9.42%.

Insider Transactions at Meta Platforms

In related news, CAO Aaron Anderson sold 731 shares of the 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 sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 3,414 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,901,598. This represents a 17.64 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 413 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $567.58, for a total value of $234,410.54. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 10,294 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,842,668.52. This represents a 3.86 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 568,016 shares of company stock valued at $346,031,180. Company insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

META has been the subject of several analyst reports. Truist Financial increased their target price on Meta Platforms from $650.00 to $700.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $605.00 to $630.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Hsbc Global Res upgraded Meta Platforms to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Mizuho lifted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $650.00 to $675.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Citigroup upped their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $645.00 to $705.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, thirty-five have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $654.20.

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.