Simon Quick Advisors LLC Acquires 413 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Simon Quick Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 1.8% during the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 22,919 shares of the social networking company’s stock after buying an additional 413 shares during the period. Meta Platforms accounts for approximately 0.8% of Simon Quick Advisors LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 23rd largest position. Simon Quick Advisors LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $11,556,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Weaver Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 28.2% during the second quarter. Weaver Capital Management LLC now owns 4,719 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $2,379,000 after purchasing an additional 1,037 shares in the last quarter. Cozad Asset Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 10.8% during the second quarter. Cozad Asset Management Inc. now owns 23,210 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $11,703,000 after purchasing an additional 2,259 shares in the last quarter. FSB Premier Wealth Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 63.1% during the second quarter. FSB Premier Wealth Management Inc. now owns 4,236 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $2,136,000 after purchasing an additional 1,639 shares in the last quarter. Fortem Financial Group LLC grew its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.4% during the second quarter. Fortem Financial Group LLC now owns 7,045 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $3,552,000 after purchasing an additional 97 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Archer Investment Corp grew its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.5% during the second quarter. Archer Investment Corp now owns 8,259 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $4,164,000 after purchasing an additional 41 shares in the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Bank of America raised their price objective on Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $563.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price target on Meta Platforms from $525.00 to $585.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Meta Platforms from $625.00 to $647.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Oppenheimer lifted their price target on Meta Platforms from $525.00 to $615.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, Raymond James lifted their price target on Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $600.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, July 1st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating, thirty-three have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $576.66.

Insider Buying and Selling at Meta Platforms

In other news, CFO Susan J. Li sold 8,950 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $526.76, for a total transaction of $4,714,502.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 74,579 shares in the company, valued at $39,285,234.04. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Meta Platforms news, CFO Susan J. Li sold 8,950 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $526.76, for a total value of $4,714,502.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 74,579 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $39,285,234.04. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 413 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 14,424 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,744,534.08. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 390,977 shares of company stock worth $202,384,548. 13.71% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:META opened at $500.27 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $1.27 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 1.21. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 52 week low of $279.40 and a 52 week high of $544.23. The company has a quick ratio of 2.83, a current ratio of 2.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $505.18 and a 200 day moving average of $494.28.

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

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 26th. Investors of record on Monday, September 16th will be given a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.40%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 16th. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is currently 11.49%.

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.