Client 1ST Advisory Group LLC Increases Stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Client 1ST Advisory Group LLC grew its holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 6.2% in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 2,187 shares of the social networking company’s stock after buying an additional 127 shares during the quarter. Client 1ST Advisory Group LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $1,103,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake 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 worth $90,891,055,000 after purchasing an additional 831,047 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors boosted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 0.6% in 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 purchasing an additional 244,803 shares in the last quarter. Capital International Investors increased its stake in 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 during the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors raised its holdings in Meta Platforms by 14.5% during the first quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 34,597,001 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $16,799,612,000 after purchasing an additional 4,379,826 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sanders Capital LLC lifted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 2.4% during the 4th quarter. Sanders Capital LLC now owns 14,569,705 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $5,157,093,000 after buying an additional 344,384 shares during the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Meta Platforms Trading Up 1.7 %

META opened at $533.28 on Tuesday. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $505.21 and its 200-day moving average is $495.81. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 52-week low of $279.40 and a 52-week high of $544.23. The company has a quick ratio of 2.83, a current ratio of 2.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.35 trillion, a P/E ratio of 30.63, a P/E/G ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 1.21.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The social networking company reported $5.16 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 company had revenue of $39.07 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $38.26 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $3.23 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 22.1% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 21.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 26th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 16th will be given a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 16th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.38%. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is 11.49%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $507.63, for a total value of $459,405.15. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 37,817 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,197,043.71. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, COO Javier Olivan sold 413 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $536.92, for a total transaction of $221,747.96. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 14,424 shares in the company, valued at $7,744,534.08. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $507.63, for a total transaction of $459,405.15. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 37,817 shares in the company, valued at $19,197,043.71. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 357,574 shares of company stock worth $185,587,773. Corporate insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

META has been the topic of several research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on Meta Platforms from $522.00 to $555.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Cantor Fitzgerald assumed coverage on Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday, September 5th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $660.00 price objective for the company. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed a “market perform” rating and issued a $450.00 target price on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Wednesday, June 12th. Evercore ISI increased their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $600.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, Benchmark reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, thirty-four have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus 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.