EP Wealth Advisors LLC Purchases 2,231 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

EP Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 1.3% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 177,779 shares of the social networking company’s stock after buying an additional 2,231 shares during the period. Meta Platforms comprises approximately 1.0% of EP Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 23rd largest holding. EP Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $89,640,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Kimelman & Baird LLC bought a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the 2nd quarter worth $505,000. Connective Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Meta Platforms in the second quarter valued at about $1,913,000. Gateway Wealth Partners LLC raised its holdings in Meta Platforms by 164.7% in the second quarter. Gateway Wealth Partners LLC now owns 4,130 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $2,082,000 after purchasing an additional 2,570 shares in the last quarter. Quarry LP lifted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 208.3% during the second quarter. Quarry LP now owns 259 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $131,000 after buying an additional 175 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Invst LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 18.1% in the 2nd quarter. Invst LLC now owns 6,095 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $3,076,000 after buying an additional 936 shares in the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

META has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Evercore ISI increased their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $600.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Citigroup increased their price objective on Meta Platforms from $580.00 to $645.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, September 23rd. Bank of America boosted their target price on Meta Platforms from $563.00 to $630.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday. TD Cowen increased their price target on Meta Platforms from $530.00 to $600.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 10th. Finally, KeyCorp upped their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $540.00 to $560.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating, thirty-four have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $591.23.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

Meta Platforms stock opened at $567.36 on Monday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $516.19 and a 200-day simple moving average of $499.63. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.44 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.59, a PEG ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 1.21. 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, Inc. has a 52-week low of $279.40 and a 52-week high of $577.40.

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 analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.70 by $0.46. The company had revenue of $39.07 billion during 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%. Meta Platforms’s quarterly revenue was up 22.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $3.23 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 21.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 26th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 16th were issued a $0.50 dividend. 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 payout ratio is 11.49%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Meta Platforms

In other news, insider Christopher K. Cox sold 10,000 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $569.93, for a total transaction of $5,699,300.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 328,662 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $187,314,333.66. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 16,702 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $509.10, for a total value of $8,502,988.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 186,826 shares in the company, valued at $95,113,116.60. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Christopher K. Cox sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $569.93, for a total transaction of $5,699,300.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 328,662 shares in the company, valued at $187,314,333.66. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 325,656 shares of company stock worth $171,028,659 in the last ninety days. 13.71% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.