Meta Platforms, Inc. $META Shares Bought by Provident Investment Management Inc.

Provident Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 65.1% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 68,581 shares of the social networking company’s stock after buying an additional 27,052 shares during the period. Meta Platforms accounts for 4.3% of Provident Investment Management Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 10th largest position. Provident Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $50,619,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 34,551 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $20,230,000 after acquiring an additional 570 shares in the last quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 10.2% in the fourth quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 9,456 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $5,537,000 after acquiring an additional 875 shares during the last quarter. Aspire Growth Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 7.3% during the 1st quarter. Aspire Growth Partners LLC now owns 662 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $395,000 after purchasing an additional 45 shares during the last quarter. Waddell & Associates LLC increased its position in Meta Platforms by 5.0% during the 1st quarter. Waddell & Associates LLC now owns 2,508 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $1,446,000 after purchasing an additional 119 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Headwater Capital Co Ltd lifted its stake in Meta Platforms by 294.7% in the 1st quarter. Headwater Capital Co Ltd now owns 150,000 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $86,454,000 after purchasing an additional 112,000 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on META. Oppenheimer downgraded shares of Meta Platforms from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Zacks Research downgraded Meta Platforms from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 18th. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “buy” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Tuesday, October 14th. KeyCorp cut their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $905.00 to $875.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Finally, DA Davidson set a $825.00 price objective on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-nine have given a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Meta Platforms presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $819.46.

Meta Platforms Trading Down 1.3%

META opened at $644.23 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $1.62 trillion, a P/E ratio of 28.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.35 and a beta of 1.28. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $665.92 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $707.68. The company has a current ratio of 1.98, a quick ratio of 1.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1-year low of $479.80 and a 1-year high of $796.25.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The social networking company reported $7.25 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.74 by $0.51. The business had revenue of $51.24 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $49.34 billion. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 39.35% and a net margin of 30.89%.The firm’s revenue was up 26.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $6.03 EPS. Analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 23rd. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.525 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 15th. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.3%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is presently 9.28%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CAO Aaron Anderson sold 726 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $591.60, for a total transaction of $429,501.60. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 6,035 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,570,306. The trade was a 10.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO Susan J. Li sold 6,875 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Saturday, November 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $609.46, for a total value of $4,190,037.50. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 88,370 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $53,857,980.20. The trade was a 7.22% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 40,977 shares of company stock valued at $25,834,356. 13.61% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.