Ionic Capital Management LLC Takes $1.03 Million Position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Ionic Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) in the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor purchased 1,800 shares of the social networking company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,030,000.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. IronBridge Private Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in Meta Platforms during the third quarter worth approximately $207,000. Harmony Asset Management LLC grew its position in Meta Platforms by 1.7% in the third quarter. Harmony Asset Management LLC now owns 1,652 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $946,000 after acquiring an additional 28 shares in the last quarter. Hilltop Holdings Inc. lifted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 123.2% during the 3rd quarter. Hilltop Holdings Inc. now owns 16,689 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $9,553,000 after buying an additional 9,212 shares during the last quarter. Hollow Brook Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the third quarter valued at approximately $425,000. Finally, Holocene Advisors LP acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $311,417,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Meta Platforms

In other news, CAO Aaron Anderson sold 731 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $557.00, for a total transaction of $407,167.00. Following the transaction, 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 position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $565.30, for a total value of $511,596.50. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 37,790 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $21,362,687. The trade was a 2.34 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 105,334 shares of company stock worth $59,210,941 in the last three months. Insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

NASDAQ META opened at $592.83 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a current ratio of 2.73 and a quick ratio of 2.73. The company has a market capitalization of $1.50 trillion, a PE ratio of 27.92, a P/E/G ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a fifty day moving average of $575.21 and a two-hundred day moving average of $528.08. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1 year low of $313.66 and a 1 year high of $602.95.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The social networking company reported $6.03 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.19 by $0.84. The company had revenue of $40.59 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $40.21 billion. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 35.55% and a return on equity of 35.60%. As a group, analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 22.62 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 26th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 16th were issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.34%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 16th. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is presently 9.42%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have issued reports on META. Piper Sandler raised their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $575.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Loop Capital increased their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $575.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 6th. DA Davidson assumed coverage on Meta Platforms in a report on Tuesday, September 10th. They set a “buy” rating and a $600.00 target price on the stock. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed an “underperform” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Pivotal Research boosted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $780.00 to $800.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, thirty-five have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Meta Platforms has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $634.71.

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.