Delap Wealth Advisory LLC Acquires Shares of 745 Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Key Points

• Delap Wealth Advisory LLC acquired 745 shares of Meta Platforms, valued at approximately $429,000, indicating growing institutional interest in the company.
• Meta Platforms reported a record quarterly revenue of $47.52 billion, surpassing analysts' expectations and showing a year-over-year growth of 21.6%.
• Multiple analysts have raised their price targets for Meta Platforms, with Piper Sandler setting a new target at $880.00 and Cantor Fitzgerald at $920.00, reflecting a strong market confidence.

Delap Wealth Advisory LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 745 shares of the social networking company's stock, valued at approximately $429,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 34,551 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $20,230,000 after acquiring an additional 570 shares during the period. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 10.2% in the fourth quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 9,456 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $5,537,000 after acquiring an additional 875 shares during the period. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG boosted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 3.5% in the fourth quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG now owns 221,459 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $129,666,000 after acquiring an additional 7,587 shares during the period. Highview Capital Management LLC DE boosted its stake in Meta Platforms by 3.7% during the fourth quarter. Highview Capital Management LLC DE now owns 6,189 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $3,624,000 after buying an additional 218 shares during the period. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter valued at $2,243,603,000. 79.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Meta Platforms Trading Down 1.1%

Shares of NASDAQ META traded down $8.30 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $768.07. The company's stock had a trading volume of 3,441,751 shares, compared to its average volume of 15,569,142. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a quick ratio of 1.97 and a current ratio of 1.97. The stock has a market cap of $1.93 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.85, a P/E/G ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 1.27. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12 month low of $478.65 and a 12 month high of $784.75. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $704.66 and a 200-day simple moving average of $647.27.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The social networking company reported $7.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.75 by $1.39. The company had revenue of $47.52 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $44.55 billion. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 39.33% and a net margin of 39.99%. Meta Platforms's quarterly revenue was up 21.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $5.16 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 26th. Investors of record on Monday, June 16th were paid a $0.525 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 16th. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.3%. Meta Platforms's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 7.60%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

META has been the subject of several research analyst reports. HSBC raised Meta Platforms from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $610.00 to $900.00 in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. TD Securities dropped their price objective on Meta Platforms from $725.00 to $700.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $635.00 to $740.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 2nd. Citizens Jmp lifted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $750.00 to $900.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, JMP Securities lifted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $750.00 to $900.00 and gave the company a "market outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty-nine have given a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $820.32.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 519 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $719.86, for a total value of $373,607.34. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 25,550 shares of the company's stock, valued at $18,392,423. This trade represents a 1.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 15,847 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $753.43, for a total value of $11,939,605.21. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 167,298 shares of company stock valued at $116,742,790 over the last three months. Company insiders own 13.61% 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.