Rathbones Group PLC Has $142.43 Million Stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Rathbones Group PLC boosted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 3.4% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 282,468 shares of the social networking company’s stock after buying an additional 9,390 shares during the quarter. Rathbones Group PLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $142,426,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Delos Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake 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 worth $34,000 after buying an additional 58 shares during the last quarter. POM Investment Strategies LLC bought a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the 2nd quarter worth about $38,000. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. lifted its stake 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 purchasing an additional 44 shares during the period. Richardson Financial Services Inc. boosted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 95.6% during the 1st quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. now owns 88 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $41,000 after purchasing an additional 43 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Quest Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter worth approximately $32,000. Institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:META opened at $536.32 on Wednesday. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $505.34 and its 200-day moving average price is $496.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a current ratio of 2.83 and a quick ratio of 2.83. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.36 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.80, a PEG ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 1.21. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a one year low of $279.40 and a one year high of $544.23.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last released its earnings results 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. 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $38.26 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $3.23 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 22.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 21.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 26th. Investors of record on Monday, September 16th will be given a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 16th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.37%. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is 11.49%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Meta Platforms news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 2,054 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $501.05, for a total transaction of $1,029,156.70. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 253,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $126,765,650. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, COO Javier Olivan sold 412 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $502.00, for a total transaction of $206,824.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 7,619 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,824,738. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 2,054 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $501.05, for a total value of $1,029,156.70. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 253,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $126,765,650. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 357,987 shares of company stock valued at $185,802,769 over the last quarter. 13.71% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have issued reports on META. Roth Mkm increased their price target on Meta Platforms from $510.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Citigroup boosted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $580.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Meta Platforms from $480.00 to $610.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Susquehanna lifted their target price on Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $600.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein increased their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $565.00 to $575.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, July 22nd. Two research 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 given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Meta Platforms currently has a consensus 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.