Inlet Private Wealth LLC Increases Stock Position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Inlet Private Wealth LLC raised its position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 7.9% in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,415 shares of the social networking company’s stock after buying an additional 103 shares during the period. Inlet Private Wealth LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $713,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. S.A. Mason LLC lifted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.5% in the first quarter. S.A. Mason LLC now owns 1,328 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $645,000 after buying an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. Horizon Bancorp Inc. IN raised its holdings in Meta Platforms by 2.0% in the 1st quarter. Horizon Bancorp Inc. IN now owns 1,057 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $513,000 after acquiring an additional 21 shares during the last quarter. Northern Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in Meta Platforms by 3.4% in the 1st quarter. Northern Capital Management Inc. now owns 647 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $314,000 after acquiring an additional 21 shares during the last quarter. Buckingham Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in Meta Platforms by 5.1% in the 2nd quarter. Buckingham Capital Management Inc. now owns 433 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $218,000 after purchasing an additional 21 shares in the last quarter. Finally, LongView Wealth Management grew its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.3% in the first quarter. LongView Wealth Management now owns 1,762 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $856,000 after purchasing an additional 22 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Trading Down 0.6 %

META opened at $531.93 on Friday. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $502.48 and a 200 day moving average price of $490.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a current ratio of 2.83 and a quick ratio of 2.68. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12 month low of $276.03 and a 12 month high of $544.23. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.35 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.55, a PEG ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 1.21.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 31st. The social networking company reported $5.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.70 by $0.46. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 34.16% and a net margin of 34.34%. The business had revenue of $39.07 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $38.26 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $3.23 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 22.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 20.5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 14th were given a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.38%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 14th. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is presently 11.49%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have weighed in on META. Needham & Company LLC reissued an “underperform” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Oppenheimer boosted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $525.00 to $615.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Truist Financial raised their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $535.00 to $570.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. TD Securities lifted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $530.00 to $600.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 10th. Finally, Bank of America increased their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $563.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, thirty-three have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $574.41.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 150 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $500.49, for a total transaction of $75,073.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 124,387 shares in the company, valued at $62,254,449.63. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, Director Sheryl Sandberg sold 105,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $476.71, for a total transaction of $50,054,550.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 630,293 shares in the company, valued at $300,466,976.03. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 150 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $500.49, for a total transaction of $75,073.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 124,387 shares in the company, valued at $62,254,449.63. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 418,680 shares of company stock worth $211,992,147. 13.71% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.