Alesco Advisors LLC An ESL Co Raises Holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

Alesco Advisors LLC An ESL Co boosted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 229.1% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,739 shares of the social networking company's stock after purchasing an additional 2,603 shares during the quarter. Alesco Advisors LLC An ESL Co's holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $2,139,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. RHL Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Strategic Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter worth approximately $29,000. Niles Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Bayban increased its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 100.0% during the 1st quarter. Bayban now owns 70 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $40,000 after purchasing an additional 35 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter valued at $42,000. Institutional investors own 79.91% of the company's stock.

Key Meta Platforms News

Here are the key news stories impacting Meta Platforms this week:

• Positive Sentiment: A new free verification badge system for Facebook users, which may improve trust and platform quality. Fast Company article
• Positive Sentiment: A dedicated Marketplace seller app with tools for merchants, aimed at making Facebook commerce more useful and organized. Reuters article
• Positive Sentiment: Wall Street commentary remained constructive, with articles highlighting Meta as a strong momentum stock and a potentially attractive AI-era value name.
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst sentiment stayed favorable, including a report that Wells Fargo raised its price target on Meta to $835.00.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:META opened at $595.19 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $1.51 trillion, a PE ratio of 21.64, a P/E/G ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 1.25. The company has a current ratio of 2.35, a quick ratio of 2.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12-month low of $520.26 and a 12-month high of $796.25. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $604.51 and its 200-day simple moving average is $625.53.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The social networking company reported $10.44 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $6.67 by $3.77. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 36.93% and a net margin of 32.84%.The firm had revenue of $56.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $55.56 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $6.43 EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 33.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 29.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 25th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 15th were given a dividend of $0.525 per share. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 15th. Meta Platforms's dividend payout ratio is presently 7.63%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

META has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Mizuho dropped their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $850.00 to $835.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, May 5th. Arete Research set a $735.00 price objective on shares of Meta Platforms and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 2nd. Benchmark assumed coverage on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Tuesday, June 2nd. They issued a "buy" rating for the company. Citigroup restated a "strong-buy" rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Tuesday, July 21st. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a "hold" rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Wednesday, July 8th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-four have given a Buy rating, eight have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $835.64.

Insider Buying and Selling at Meta Platforms

In related news, COO Javier Olivan sold 3,348 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $600.97, for a total transaction of $2,012,047.56. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 9,498 shares of the company's stock, valued at $5,708,013.06. This represents a 26.06% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Curtis J. Mahoney sold 2,079 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $609.92, for a total transaction of $1,268,023.68. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 1,118 shares of the company's stock, valued at $681,890.56. This trade represents a 65.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 36,393 shares of company stock valued at $22,141,163. 13.53% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

About Meta Platforms

Meta Platforms, Inc NASDAQ: META, formerly Facebook, Inc, is a global technology company best known for building social networking services and immersive computing platforms. Founded in 2004 and headquartered in Menlo Park, California, the company operates a family of consumer-facing products and services that connect users, creators and businesses. In October 2021 the company rebranded as Meta to reflect an expanded strategic focus on augmented and virtual reality technologies alongside its social media businesses.

Meta's core consumer products include Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp and Messenger, which enable social networking, messaging, content sharing and community building across mobile and desktop devices.

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