Essex Financial Services Inc. Purchases 2,079 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Essex Financial Services Inc. grew its position in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 14.4% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 16,539 shares of the social networking company’s stock after buying an additional 2,079 shares during the period. Essex Financial Services Inc.’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $8,339,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of META. Quest Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter worth $32,000. Clear Investment Research LLC raised its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 411.1% in the 4th quarter. Clear Investment Research LLC now owns 92 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 74 shares in the last quarter. Delos Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in Meta Platforms by 527.3% during the first quarter. Delos Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 69 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 58 shares in the last quarter. POM Investment Strategies LLC bought a new stake in Meta Platforms during the second quarter worth $38,000. Finally, Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 122.2% in the 2nd quarter. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. now owns 80 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $40,000 after purchasing an additional 44 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Trading Down 1.8 %

NASDAQ META opened at $511.76 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 2.83, a quick ratio of 2.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $505.32 and a 200 day simple moving average of $493.64. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12 month low of $279.40 and a 12 month high of $544.23. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.30 trillion, a P/E ratio of 29.39, a PEG ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 1.21.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The social networking company reported $5.16 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.70 by $0.46. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 34.34% and a return on equity of 34.16%. The company had revenue of $39.07 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $38.26 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $3.23 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 22.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 21.3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, COO Javier Olivan sold 413 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $536.92, for a total transaction of $221,747.96. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 14,424 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,744,534.08. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 2,011 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $500.92, for a total transaction of $1,007,350.12. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 318,932 shares in the company, valued at $159,759,417.44. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 413 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $536.92, for a total transaction of $221,747.96. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 14,424 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,744,534.08. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 392,082 shares of company stock valued at $202,909,089 in the last 90 days. 13.71% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the company. Roth Mkm boosted their price target on Meta Platforms from $510.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $590.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Wolfe Research initiated coverage on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Tuesday, July 16th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $620.00 price objective for the company. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $570.00 target price on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. Finally, Evercore ISI raised their price objective on Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $600.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating, thirty-two have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $574.41.

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.