Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) Shares Acquired by Lane & Associates LLC

Lane & Associates LLC boosted its position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 8.5% in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 447 shares of the social networking company’s stock after purchasing an additional 35 shares during the period. Lane & Associates LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $225,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of META. Baird Financial Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 24.2% in the fourth quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 835,972 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $295,901,000 after acquiring an additional 163,067 shares during the last quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System boosted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.5% in the 4th quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 3,576,285 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $1,265,862,000 after purchasing an additional 51,900 shares during the last quarter. Voyager Global Management LP grew its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 37.3% during the 4th quarter. Voyager Global Management LP now owns 515,000 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $182,289,000 after buying an additional 140,000 shares during the period. Gradient Investments LLC increased its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 8.9% during the 2nd quarter. Gradient Investments LLC now owns 72,587 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $36,600,000 after buying an additional 5,953 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Baillie Gifford & Co. raised its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 14.0% in the 1st quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. now owns 6,101,501 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $2,962,767,000 after buying an additional 748,076 shares during the period. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Meta Platforms

In related news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 2,054 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $501.05, for a total transaction of $1,029,156.70. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 253,000 shares in the company, valued at $126,765,650. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 2,054 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 253,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $126,765,650. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 5,057 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $526.76, for a total value of $2,663,825.32. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief technology officer now owns 11,990 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,315,852.40. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 357,574 shares of company stock valued at $185,587,773 in the last quarter. Insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:META opened at $524.62 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $1.33 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.13, a PEG ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 1.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a current ratio of 2.83 and a quick ratio of 2.83. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12 month low of $279.40 and a 12 month high of $544.23. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $505.13 and its 200 day moving average price is $495.37.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last posted 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. 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 the consensus estimate of $38.26 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $3.23 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 22.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 21.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 26th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 16th will be given a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 16th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.38%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 11.49%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on META. Citigroup boosted their target price on Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $580.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Oppenheimer boosted 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. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $570.00 price target on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed a “market perform” rating and set a $450.00 target price on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Wednesday, June 12th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald assumed coverage on Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday, September 5th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $660.00 price target for the company. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating, thirty-four have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $577.26.

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.