Bank of Marin Boosts Stock Position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Bank of Marin raised its stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 5.4% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,595 shares of the social networking company’s stock after purchasing an additional 81 shares during the quarter. Bank of Marin’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $913,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Valley Wealth Managers Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 22.2% in the third quarter. Valley Wealth Managers Inc. now owns 1,279 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $732,000 after acquiring an additional 232 shares in the last quarter. Birchcreek Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in Meta Platforms by 65.4% in the third quarter. Birchcreek Wealth Management LLC now owns 845 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $484,000 after purchasing an additional 334 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC boosted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 67.6% in the 3rd quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 91,703 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $52,494,000 after purchasing an additional 36,973 shares in the last quarter. Empirical Finance LLC increased its position in Meta Platforms by 1.9% during the 3rd quarter. Empirical Finance LLC now owns 80,516 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $46,091,000 after purchasing an additional 1,472 shares during the period. Finally, Signature Estate & Investment Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 6.8% during the 3rd quarter. Signature Estate & Investment Advisors LLC now owns 119,583 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $68,454,000 after buying an additional 7,628 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on META. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed an “underperform” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday, October 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $640.00 to $660.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $630.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Guggenheim increased their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $665.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, October 7th. Finally, Piper Sandler boosted their price target on Meta Platforms from $575.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, thirty-five have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $634.10.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Meta Platforms news, 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 transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 10,294 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,842,668.52. This trade represents a 3.86 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 901 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $567.70, for a total value of $511,497.70. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 30,581 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $17,360,833.70. The trade was a 2.86 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 140,593 shares of company stock valued at $75,253,970. 13.71% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Meta Platforms Stock Up 0.1 %

Shares of NASDAQ META opened at $554.40 on Tuesday. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $1.40 trillion, a PE ratio of 26.11, a P/E/G ratio of 1.23 and a beta of 1.22. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $569.10 and a 200-day moving average of $521.96. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 52-week low of $313.66 and a 52-week high of $602.95.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The social networking company reported $6.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.19 by $0.84. The firm had revenue of $40.59 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $40.21 billion. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 35.60% and a net margin of 35.55%. On average, analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 22.53 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

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. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.36%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 16th. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 9.42%.

About Meta Platforms

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.