679 Shares in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) Acquired by Valicenti Advisory Services Inc.

Valicenti Advisory Services Inc. acquired a new position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund acquired 679 shares of the social networking company’s stock, valued at approximately $342,000.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in META. Quest Partners LLC bought a new position in Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter worth approximately $32,000. Clear Investment Research LLC grew its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 411.1% during the fourth quarter. Clear Investment Research LLC now owns 92 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 74 shares during the period. Delos Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Meta Platforms by 527.3% during the first quarter. Delos Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 69 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 58 shares during the period. 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 holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 95.6% in the first quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. now owns 88 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $41,000 after acquiring an additional 43 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have weighed in on META. Rosenblatt Securities lifted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $562.00 to $643.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed an “underperform” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $522.00 to $555.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Truist Financial lifted their price target on Meta Platforms from $535.00 to $570.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on Meta Platforms from $500.00 to $530.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating, thirty-three have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Meta Platforms currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $574.41.

Meta Platforms Trading Down 0.6 %

Shares of NASDAQ:META opened at $531.93 on Friday. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12-month low of $276.03 and a 12-month high of $544.23. The business has a 50 day moving average of $502.48 and a 200-day moving average of $490.42. The company has a quick ratio of 2.68, a current ratio of 2.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. The stock has a market cap of $1.35 trillion, a PE ratio of 30.55, a P/E/G ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 1.21.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The social networking company reported $5.16 earnings per share 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 business had revenue of $39.07 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $38.26 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $3.23 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 22.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 20.5 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 26th. Investors of record on Friday, June 14th were paid a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 14th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.38%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 11.49%.

Insider Activity at Meta Platforms

In other Meta Platforms news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 16,702 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $533.24, for a total value of $8,906,174.48. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 28,838 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $15,377,575.12. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Meta Platforms news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 16,702 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $533.24, for a total transaction of $8,906,174.48. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 28,838 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,377,575.12. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $476.69, for a total value of $431,404.45. Following the sale, the insider now owns 42,370 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,197,355.30. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 418,680 shares of company stock worth $211,992,147. Corporate insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

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.