462 Shares in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) Purchased by Hill Island Financial LLC

Hill Island Financial LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) in the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor purchased 462 shares of the social networking company’s stock, valued at approximately $233,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of META. Quest Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter valued at about $32,000. Clear Investment Research LLC boosted its position in Meta Platforms by 411.1% during the 4th quarter. Clear Investment Research LLC now owns 92 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 74 shares in the last quarter. Delos Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 527.3% during the 1st quarter. Delos Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 69 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 58 shares during the period. POM Investment Strategies LLC bought a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $38,000. Finally, Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. lifted its stake 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 during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

META has been the topic of several recent research reports. Wolfe Research started coverage on Meta Platforms in a research note on Tuesday, July 16th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $620.00 price target on the stock. Guggenheim upped their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $500.00 to $600.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Susquehanna lifted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $600.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Bank of America upped their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $563.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, Truist Financial boosted their price target on Meta Platforms from $535.00 to $570.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. 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 issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $577.26.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $537.72, for a total transaction of $486,636.60. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 36,912 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,848,320.64. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $537.72, for a total transaction of $486,636.60. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 36,912 shares in the company, valued at $19,848,320.64. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CFO Susan J. Li sold 33,018 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $517.94, for a total value of $17,101,342.92. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 356,426 shares of company stock worth $185,053,425 over the last three months. 13.71% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Meta Platforms Trading Up 3.9 %

NASDAQ:META opened at $559.10 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.42 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.11, a price-to-earnings-growth 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. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $505.40 and a 200-day moving average price of $496.34. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a one year low of $279.40 and a one year high of $562.07.

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 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 firm had revenue of $39.07 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $38.26 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $3.23 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 22.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 21.36 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 26th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 16th will be issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.36%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 16th. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is currently 11.49%.

About Meta Platforms

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.