Hanson & Doremus Investment Management Boosts Stock Position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

by · The Markets Daily

Hanson & Doremus Investment Management boosted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META – Free Report) by 15.1% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 427 shares of the social networking company’s stock after acquiring an additional 56 shares during the quarter. Hanson & Doremus Investment Management’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $128,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.6% in the second quarter. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. now owns 2,060 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $591,000 after purchasing an additional 33 shares during the period. First Affirmative Financial Network increased its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.4% in the third quarter. First Affirmative Financial Network now owns 2,443 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $733,000 after purchasing an additional 33 shares during the period. Little House Capital LLC increased its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.5% in the second quarter. Little House Capital LLC now owns 6,443 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $1,849,000 after purchasing an additional 34 shares during the period. McLean Asset Management Corp increased its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 3.2% in the second quarter. McLean Asset Management Corp now owns 1,127 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $323,000 after purchasing an additional 35 shares during the period. Finally, Staley Capital Advisers Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.8% in the second quarter. Staley Capital Advisers Inc. now owns 1,939 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $556,000 after purchasing an additional 35 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 62.87% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

Shares of META opened at $347.12 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $333.29 and a 200 day moving average price of $312.55. The company has a quick ratio of 2.57, a current ratio of 2.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. The company has a market capitalization of $892.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.92 and a beta of 1.22. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 52-week low of $124.54 and a 52-week high of $361.90.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META – Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 25th. The social networking company reported $4.39 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.62 by $0.77. The firm had revenue of $34.15 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $33.58 billion. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 26.40% and a net margin of 23.42%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 23.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.64 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 14.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 47,690 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $354.08, for a total value of $16,886,075.20. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 47,690 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $354.08, for a total value of $16,886,075.20. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 566 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $338.48, for a total value of $191,579.68. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 40,380 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,667,822.40. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 688,944 shares of company stock valued at $230,574,460. 13.75% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently commented on META shares. Piper Sandler dropped their target price on Meta Platforms from $365.00 to $355.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 26th. Wedbush raised their target price on Meta Platforms from $350.00 to $420.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on Meta Platforms from $425.00 to $400.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 4th. Roth Mkm raised their target price on Meta Platforms from $360.00 to $365.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 26th. Finally, Oppenheimer reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $385.00 target price on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday, September 28th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, forty-two have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Meta Platforms has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $354.37.

Check Out Our Latest Report on Meta Platforms

Meta Platforms Profile

(Free Report)

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.

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