LGT Group Foundation Raises Stock Position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

LGT Group Foundation lifted its position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 45.5% in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 141,680 shares of the social networking company’s stock after purchasing an additional 44,315 shares during the period. Meta Platforms accounts for about 1.1% of LGT Group Foundation’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 22nd biggest position. LGT Group Foundation’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $71,438,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently issued reports on META. BMO Capital Markets reissued a “market perform” rating and set a $450.00 price objective on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Wednesday, June 12th. Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on Meta Platforms from $500.00 to $530.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Raymond James upped their price objective on Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $600.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, July 1st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their target price on Meta Platforms from $525.00 to $585.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reissued an “underperform” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Wednesday, September 4th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, thirty-four have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Meta Platforms presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $577.26.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 2,054 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $501.05, for a total transaction of $1,029,156.70. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 253,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $126,765,650. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 2,054 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $501.05, for a total transaction of $1,029,156.70. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 253,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $126,765,650. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Susan J. Li sold 33,018 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $517.94, for a total transaction of $17,101,342.92. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 357,574 shares of company stock worth $185,587,773. Company insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Stock Up 2.7 %

Shares of META opened at $525.60 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $1.33 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.19, a PEG ratio of 1.23 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 stock’s 50-day moving average price is $505.44 and its 200-day moving average price is $495.07. The company has a quick ratio of 2.83, a current ratio of 2.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 31st. The social networking company reported $5.16 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.70 by $0.46. The business had revenue of $39.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $38.26 billion. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 34.16% and a net margin of 34.34%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 22.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $3.23 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 21.36 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 26th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 16th will be issued a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 16th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.38%. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is 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.