Fairfield Financial Advisors LTD Takes $352,000 Position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Fairfield Financial Advisors LTD purchased a new position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 698 shares of the social networking company’s stock, valued at approximately $352,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in META. Quest Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter worth about $32,000. Clear Investment Research LLC increased its holdings 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 buying an additional 74 shares in the last quarter. Delos Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 527.3% in the first quarter. Delos Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 69 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 58 shares during the last quarter. POM Investment Strategies LLC acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $38,000. Finally, Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. grew its position in Meta Platforms by 122.2% during 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 during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Trading Up 0.3 %

NASDAQ:META opened at $537.95 on Thursday. 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 business’s 50-day simple moving average is $505.40 and its 200-day simple moving average is $496.34. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $279.40 and a fifty-two week high of $544.23. The stock 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.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The social networking company reported $5.16 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.70 by $0.46. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 34.34% and a return on equity of 34.16%. The firm had revenue of $39.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $38.26 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $3.23 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 22.1% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 21.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have commented on META shares. Susquehanna boosted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $600.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $480.00 to $610.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $565.00 to $600.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Roth Mkm upped their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $510.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reissued an “underperform” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Wednesday, September 4th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, thirty-four have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Meta Platforms has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $577.26.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, COO Javier Olivan sold 413 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $536.92, for a total value of $221,747.96. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 14,424 shares in the company, valued at $7,744,534.08. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 10th. The shares were 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $19,197,043.71. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 413 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the chief operating officer now owns 14,424 shares in the company, valued at $7,744,534.08. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 357,575 shares of company stock worth $185,595,945. Corporate insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

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.