Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) is Vestcor Inc’s 7th Largest Position

Vestcor Inc raised its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 12.6% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 68,011 shares of the social networking company’s stock after buying an additional 7,589 shares during the period. Meta Platforms comprises 1.2% of Vestcor Inc’s portfolio, making the stock its 7th largest holding. Vestcor Inc’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $38,932,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its position in Meta Platforms by 57,001.5% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 9,517,111 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $5,447,975,000 after purchasing an additional 9,500,444 shares during the last quarter. Integrated Investment Consultants LLC raised its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 61,769.3% during the third quarter. Integrated Investment Consultants LLC now owns 4,132,870 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $2,365,820,000 after buying an additional 4,126,190 shares during the last quarter. Sustainable Growth Advisers LP bought a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the second quarter valued at approximately $595,152,000. World Investment Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 4,658.5% during the third quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC now owns 909,548 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $520,662,000 after buying an additional 890,434 shares during the period. Finally, Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund grew its holdings in Meta Platforms by 926.6% in the 2nd quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund now owns 733,358 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $369,774,000 after buying an additional 661,923 shares in the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Meta Platforms

In other news, CAO Aaron Anderson sold 731 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $557.00, for a total value of $407,167.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 3,414 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,901,598. The trade was a 17.64 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 22,946 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $621.84, for a total value of $14,268,740.64. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 164,201 shares of company stock worth $95,420,559 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the company. UBS Group boosted their price target on Meta Platforms from $690.00 to $719.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $605.00 to $630.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $630.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective 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. Finally, Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $600.00 target price on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday, September 26th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, thirty-five have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $634.71.

Meta Platforms Trading Down 1.6 %

Meta Platforms stock opened at $613.57 on Tuesday. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12 month low of $319.99 and a 12 month high of $629.79. 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 cap of $1.55 trillion, a P/E ratio of 28.90, a P/E/G ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 1.20. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $580.47 and its 200-day simple moving average is $534.10.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last issued its 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 firm had revenue of $40.59 billion for 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%. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 22.68 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 27th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 16th will be issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 16th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.33%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is currently 9.42%.

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.