Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) Shares Purchased by ProVise Management Group LLC

ProVise Management Group LLC raised its stake in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 6.0% in the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 7,371 shares of the social networking company’s stock after purchasing an additional 418 shares during the period. ProVise Management Group LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $3,717,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.4% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 187,180,393 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $90,891,055,000 after acquiring an additional 831,047 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors increased its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.6% during the first quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 38,299,316 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $18,597,382,000 after acquiring an additional 244,803 shares during the last quarter. Capital International Investors grew its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 3.2% in the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 34,738,470 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $12,296,383,000 after purchasing an additional 1,083,719 shares in the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors grew its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 14.5% in the first quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 34,597,001 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $16,799,612,000 after purchasing an additional 4,379,826 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sanders Capital LLC grew its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 2.4% in the fourth quarter. Sanders Capital LLC now owns 14,569,705 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $5,157,093,000 after purchasing an additional 344,384 shares in the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

Shares of META opened at $561.35 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a quick ratio of 2.83 and a current ratio of 2.83. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.42 trillion, a P/E ratio of 32.24, a P/E/G ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 1.21. The company’s fifty day moving average is $507.58 and its two-hundred day moving average is $497.22. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1 year low of $279.40 and a 1 year high of $564.50.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 31st. The social networking company reported $5.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.70 by $0.46. The company had revenue of $39.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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 was up 22.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $3.23 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 21.36 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

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 paid a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 16th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.36%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is currently 11.49%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Meta Platforms

In other news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 9,760 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, June 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $502.87, for a total transaction of $4,908,011.20. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 247,915 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $124,669,016.05. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 9,760 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, June 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $502.87, for a total transaction of $4,908,011.20. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 247,915 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $124,669,016.05. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $496.99, for a total transaction of $449,775.95. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 38,750 shares in the company, valued at $19,258,362.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 356,426 shares of company stock valued at $185,053,425. 13.71% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

META has been the subject of a number of research reports. Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $580.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $525.00 to $585.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $545.00 to $575.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. DA Davidson began coverage on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Tuesday, September 10th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $600.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein lifted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $565.00 to $575.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, July 22nd. Two investment 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 assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $577.26.

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.