Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) Shares Bought by Ascent Group LLC

Ascent Group LLC boosted its holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 16.1% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 32,104 shares of the social networking company’s stock after buying an additional 4,452 shares during the period. Meta Platforms makes up about 1.3% of Ascent Group LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 9th biggest position. Ascent Group LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $16,187,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Quest Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter worth about $32,000. Delos Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Meta Platforms by 527.3% in the first quarter. Delos Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 69 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 58 shares during the period. POM Investment Strategies LLC bought a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the second quarter worth $38,000. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. grew its holdings 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 buying an additional 44 shares during the period. Finally, Richardson Financial Services Inc. increased its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 95.6% in the 1st quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. now owns 88 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $41,000 after buying an additional 43 shares in the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 150 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $500.49, for a total transaction of $75,073.50. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 124,387 shares in the company, valued at $62,254,449.63. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other Meta Platforms news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 150 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $500.49, for a total value of $75,073.50. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 124,387 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $62,254,449.63. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $500.57, for a total value of $453,015.85. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 37,845 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $18,944,071.65. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 342,358 shares of company stock worth $179,431,101 over the last three months. Insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have weighed in on META. UBS Group lifted their target price on Meta Platforms from $630.00 to $635.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $590.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Evercore ISI raised their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $600.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Robert W. Baird upped their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $530.00 to $605.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein raised their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $565.00 to $575.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, July 22nd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, thirty-four have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $591.23.

Meta Platforms Stock Down 0.1 %

META stock opened at $567.36 on Friday. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1-year low of $279.40 and a 1-year high of $577.40. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $516.19 and its 200 day simple moving average is $499.60. The company has a current ratio of 2.83, a quick ratio of 2.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.44 trillion, a PE ratio of 32.59, a PEG ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 1.21.

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, beating the consensus estimate of $4.70 by $0.46. The firm had revenue of $39.07 billion for 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%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 22.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $3.23 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 21.36 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 26th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 16th were given a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 16th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.35%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.