Abbot Financial Management Inc. Invests $854,000 in Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

Abbot Financial Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm acquired 1,157 shares of the social networking company’s stock, valued at approximately $854,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in META. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its holdings in 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 buying an additional 570 shares during the period. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 10.2% during 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 lifted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 7.3% in the first quarter. Aspire Growth Partners LLC now owns 662 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $395,000 after acquiring an additional 45 shares during the period. Waddell & Associates LLC boosted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 5.0% in the first quarter. Waddell & Associates LLC now owns 2,508 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $1,446,000 after acquiring an additional 119 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Headwater Capital Co Ltd increased its position in Meta Platforms by 294.7% during 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 period. 79.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Meta Platforms news, COO Javier Olivan sold 2,610 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Saturday, November 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $609.46, for a total transaction of $1,590,690.60. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 9,784 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,962,956.64. This represents a 21.06% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 11,690 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $593.31, for a total transaction of $6,935,793.90. Following the transaction, the chief technology officer owned 2,415 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,432,843.65. This represents a 82.88% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold 41,959 shares of company stock worth $26,578,191 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 13.61% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

META has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Benchmark downgraded shares of Meta Platforms from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $900.00 to $915.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Oppenheimer cut shares of Meta Platforms from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Monness Crespi & Hardt decreased their price target on Meta Platforms from $860.00 to $808.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Finally, Citizens Jmp reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $900.00 price objective (up from $750.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Monday, November 24th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-nine have assigned a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $819.46.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ META opened at $644.23 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.62 trillion, a P/E ratio of 28.46, a P/E/G ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 1.28. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $665.92 and its 200-day moving average price is $706.78. 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. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 39.35% and a net margin of 30.89%.The business had revenue of $51.24 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $49.34 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $6.03 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 26.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

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

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.