Wulff Hansen & CO. Boosts Holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Wulff Hansen & CO. raised its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 50,321.9% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 248,580 shares of the social networking company’s stock after buying an additional 248,087 shares during the period. Meta Platforms comprises 0.7% of Wulff Hansen & CO.’s portfolio, making the stock its 27th largest holding. Wulff Hansen & CO.’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $125,339,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Quest Partners LLC bought a new position in Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter worth $32,000. Clear Investment Research LLC raised its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 411.1% in the fourth quarter. Clear Investment Research LLC now owns 92 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 74 shares during the period. Delos Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 527.3% during the 1st quarter. Delos Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 69 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 58 shares in the last quarter. POM Investment Strategies LLC bought a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $38,000. Finally, Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. increased its holdings in Meta Platforms by 122.2% in the 2nd quarter. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. now owns 80 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $40,000 after acquiring an additional 44 shares in the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

Shares of Meta Platforms stock opened at $537.95 on Thursday. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 52 week low of $279.40 and a 52 week high of $544.23. The company has a market capitalization of $1.36 trillion, a PE ratio of 30.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 1.21. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $505.40 and its two-hundred day moving average is $496.34. 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 (NASDAQ:META) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The social networking company reported $5.16 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.70 by $0.46. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 34.34% and a return on equity of 34.16%. The company had revenue of $39.07 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $38.26 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $3.23 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 22.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 21.36 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the stock. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $570.00 price target on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $590.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Benchmark reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. KeyCorp boosted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $540.00 to $560.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, TD Cowen increased their target price on Meta Platforms from $530.00 to $600.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 10th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, thirty-four have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $577.26.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Meta Platforms news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 16,702 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $510.88, for a total value of $8,532,717.76. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 230,461 shares in the company, valued at approximately $117,737,915.68. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In related news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 16,702 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $510.88, for a total value of $8,532,717.76. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 230,461 shares in the company, valued at $117,737,915.68. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $496.99, for a total transaction of $449,775.95. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 38,750 shares in the company, valued at $19,258,362.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 357,575 shares of company stock valued at $185,595,945 over the last quarter. 13.71% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.