Sumitomo Life Insurance Co. Increases Holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Sumitomo Life Insurance Co. raised its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 9.1% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 53,580 shares of the social networking company’s stock after acquiring an additional 4,489 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms makes up 0.6% of Sumitomo Life Insurance Co.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 12th biggest holding. Sumitomo Life Insurance Co.’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $30,671,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. Central Valley Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. Central Valley Advisors LLC now owns 5,714 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $3,271,000 after buying an additional 18 shares in the last quarter. Cherrydale Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in Meta Platforms by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter. Cherrydale Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,841 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $2,199,000 after purchasing an additional 18 shares during the last quarter. S.A. Mason LLC lifted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 1.5% in the 1st quarter. S.A. Mason LLC now owns 1,328 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $645,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. Front Row Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 5.7% during the 2nd quarter. Front Row Advisors LLC now owns 371 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $187,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Merrion Investment Management Co LLC grew its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.8% during the third quarter. Merrion Investment Management Co LLC now owns 1,145 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $655,000 after buying an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Trading Down 1.6 %

NASDAQ:META opened at $576.79 on Thursday. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a one year low of $279.40 and a one year high of $602.95. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $544.01 and its 200 day simple moving average is $507.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a quick ratio of 2.83 and a current ratio of 2.83. The stock has a market cap of $1.46 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.45 and a beta of 1.22.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The social networking company reported $5.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.70 by $0.46. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 34.16% and a net margin of 34.34%. The company had revenue of $39.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $38.26 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $3.23 EPS. Meta Platforms’s quarterly revenue was up 22.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 21.37 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 26th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 16th were issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.35%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 16th. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is currently 11.49%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Meta Platforms news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 150 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction on Friday, August 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $500.49, for a total value of $75,073.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 124,387 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $62,254,449.63. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other Meta Platforms news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 150 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $500.49, for a total value of $75,073.50. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 124,387 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $62,254,449.63. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Susan J. Li sold 8,950 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $526.76, for a total value of $4,714,502.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 74,579 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $39,285,234.04. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 249,911 shares of company stock valued at $131,887,905 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

META has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Oppenheimer raised their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $525.00 to $615.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Susquehanna raised their price objective on Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $600.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Scotiabank began coverage on Meta Platforms in a research note on Friday, October 11th. They issued a “sector perform” rating and a $585.00 target price for the company. Loop Capital raised their price target on Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $575.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 6th. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities upped their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $643.00 to $811.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 26th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, thirty-five have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $613.71.

About Meta Platforms

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.