Van Hulzen Asset Management LLC Has $22.17 Million Holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

Van Hulzen Asset Management LLC raised its position in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 9.8% in the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 30,034 shares of the social networking company’s stock after buying an additional 2,681 shares during the period. Meta Platforms comprises 1.8% of Van Hulzen Asset Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 11th largest position. Van Hulzen Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $22,168,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Boston Family Office LLC raised its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 23.1% during the second quarter. Boston Family Office LLC now owns 4,835 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $3,569,000 after acquiring an additional 907 shares during the period. Round Hill Asset Management grew its position in Meta Platforms by 162.8% during the 2nd quarter. Round Hill Asset Management now owns 1,482 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $1,094,000 after purchasing an additional 918 shares in the last quarter. Forthright Family Wealth Advisory LLC raised its stake in Meta Platforms by 4.3% during the 2nd quarter. Forthright Family Wealth Advisory LLC now owns 486 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $359,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares during the period. OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 7.4% in the second quarter. OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp now owns 491,307 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $362,629,000 after purchasing an additional 33,952 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Willis Johnson & Associates Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 4.3% in the second quarter. Willis Johnson & Associates Inc. now owns 1,191 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $879,000 after purchasing an additional 49 shares in the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

NASDAQ META opened at $666.80 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.98, a current ratio of 1.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.68 trillion, a PE ratio of 29.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 1.28. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12-month low of $479.80 and a 12-month high of $796.25. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $671.62 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $707.23.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The social networking company reported $7.25 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.74 by $0.51. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 30.89% and a return on equity of 39.35%. The business had revenue of $51.24 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $49.34 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $6.03 EPS. Meta Platforms’s revenue for the quarter was up 26.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 23rd. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.525 per share. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 15th. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 9.28%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price target on Meta Platforms from $900.00 to $875.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Zacks Research cut Meta Platforms from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 18th. Oppenheimer downgraded Meta Platforms from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 30th. BNP Paribas Exane started coverage on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Monday, November 24th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $800.00 price target for the company. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $1,117.00 price objective on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Friday. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty have issued a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $819.43.

Insider Activity at Meta Platforms

In other Meta Platforms news, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 11,690 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $593.31, for a total transaction of $6,935,793.90. Following the completion of the sale, 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CAO Aaron Anderson sold 726 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $591.60, for a total value of $429,501.60. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 6,035 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,570,306. This trade represents a 10.74% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 40,923 shares of company stock worth $25,887,293 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 13.61% of the company’s stock.

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.