Quintet Private Bank Europe S.A. Boosts Stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

Quintet Private Bank Europe S.A. grew its position in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 368.0% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 46,092 shares of the social networking company’s stock after acquiring an additional 36,244 shares during the period. Meta Platforms comprises about 1.9% of Quintet Private Bank Europe S.A.’s holdings, making the stock its 13th largest position. Quintet Private Bank Europe S.A.’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $33,849,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of META. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC lifted its position in Meta Platforms by 608,429.2% during the second quarter. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC now owns 59,775,823 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $44,119,937,000 after buying an additional 59,766,000 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the 2nd quarter valued at $23,155,393,000. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 73,443.1% during the 2nd quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 8,417,003 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $6,212,506,000 after acquiring an additional 8,405,558 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its position in Meta Platforms by 1.9% during the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 86,925,674 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $64,158,971,000 after purchasing an additional 1,650,435 shares during the period. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in Meta Platforms by 0.8% in the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 192,591,101 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $142,149,566,000 after purchasing an additional 1,532,568 shares in the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Meta Platforms

In related news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 519 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $643.23, for a total transaction of $333,836.37. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 29,696 shares in the company, valued at $19,101,358.08. This trade represents a 1.72% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Robert M. Kimmitt sold 580 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction on Monday, December 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $646.00, for a total transaction of $374,680.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 6,167 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,983,882. This represents a 8.60% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 42,074 shares of company stock worth $26,478,698. 13.61% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Meta Platforms Stock Up 2.3%

META stock opened at $664.45 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.98, a quick ratio of 1.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $660.69 and a 200-day simple moving average of $707.10. The company has a market capitalization of $1.67 trillion, a P/E ratio of 29.35, a PEG ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 1.28. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a twelve month low of $479.80 and a twelve month high of $796.25.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 firm had revenue of $51.24 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $49.34 billion. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 30.89% and a return on equity of 39.35%. The firm’s revenue was up 26.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $6.03 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 23rd. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 15th will be paid 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%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have commented on META. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on Meta Platforms from $837.00 to $802.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. BNP Paribas assumed coverage on Meta Platforms in a research report on Monday, November 24th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $800.00 price target on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price target on Meta Platforms from $950.00 to $910.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Rosenblatt Securities reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $1,117.00 price objective on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Friday, December 5th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Monday. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-nine have assigned a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Meta Platforms presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $819.46.

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.