Investment Management Corp of Ontario Has $77.95 Million Stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Investment Management Corp of Ontario grew its stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 15.4% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 136,167 shares of the social networking company’s stock after acquiring an additional 18,198 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms accounts for 1.7% of Investment Management Corp of Ontario’s holdings, making the stock its 10th biggest position. Investment Management Corp of Ontario’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $77,947,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Cullinan Associates Inc. increased its stake in Meta Platforms by 47.2% during the 2nd quarter. Cullinan Associates Inc. now owns 26,963 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $13,595,000 after acquiring an additional 8,647 shares during the period. Albion Financial Group UT boosted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 9.3% in the 2nd quarter. Albion Financial Group UT now owns 1,122 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $566,000 after buying an additional 95 shares during the last quarter. NBC Securities Inc. lifted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 7.6% during the second quarter. NBC Securities Inc. now owns 7,432 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $3,747,000 after purchasing an additional 525 shares during the last quarter. Greenfield Savings Bank increased its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.1% in the second quarter. Greenfield Savings Bank now owns 5,897 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $2,973,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares during the period. Finally, Northside Capital Management LLC grew its position in Meta Platforms by 4.7% during the second quarter. Northside Capital Management LLC now owns 420,646 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $212,098,000 after acquiring an additional 18,852 shares during the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Christopher K. Cox sold 20,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $557.52, for a total value of $11,150,400.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 338,662 shares in the company, valued at $188,810,838.24. The trade was a 5.58 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Susan J. Li sold 8,951 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $577.16, for a total transaction of $5,166,159.16. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 51,591 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $29,776,261.56. This represents a 14.78 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 105,334 shares of company stock worth $59,210,941. Corporate insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

Shares of META stock opened at $594.97 on Tuesday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $575.21 and a 200 day simple moving average of $528.08. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 52 week low of $313.66 and a 52 week high of $602.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a quick ratio of 2.73 and a current ratio of 2.73. The company has a market capitalization of $1.50 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.92, a PEG ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 1.20.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The social networking company reported $6.03 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.19 by $0.84. The business had revenue of $40.59 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $40.21 billion. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 35.55% and a return on equity of 35.60%. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 22.62 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 26th. Investors of record on Monday, September 16th were paid a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 16th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.34%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 9.42%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on META shares. Loop Capital raised their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $575.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 6th. Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $600.00 price objective on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday, September 26th. Raymond James reissued a “strong-buy” rating and issued a $675.00 price target on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Monday, November 25th. Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $645.00 to $705.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Tigress Financial lifted their target price on Meta Platforms from $575.00 to $645.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 16th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, thirty-five have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Meta Platforms currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $634.71.

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.