Commonwealth Equity Services LLC Acquires 25,338 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Key Points

• Commonwealth Equity Services LLC increased its stake in Meta Platforms by 4.1%, owning a total of 636,948 shares worth approximately $367 million.
• Meta Platforms received multiple positive price target upgrades from various analysts, with targets ranging from $800 to $920, and an average rating of "Moderate Buy."
• Insider trading activity included CEO Mark Zuckerberg selling over 15,000 shares for approximately $11.9 million, reflecting a trend of significant insider selling recently.

Commonwealth Equity Services LLC boosted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 4.1% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 636,948 shares of the social networking company's stock after buying an additional 25,338 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms makes up approximately 0.5% of Commonwealth Equity Services LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 25th largest holding. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC's holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $367,111,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Raiffeisen Bank International AG increased its position in Meta Platforms by 18.6% in the first quarter. Raiffeisen Bank International AG now owns 56,516 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $32,595,000 after buying an additional 8,857 shares during the last quarter. Smithfield Trust Co lifted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 5.6% during the first quarter. Smithfield Trust Co now owns 5,826 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $3,362,000 after purchasing an additional 310 shares during the last quarter. Fairfield Financial Advisors LTD lifted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 91.1% during the first quarter. Fairfield Financial Advisors LTD now owns 1,829 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $1,054,000 after purchasing an additional 872 shares during the last quarter. Haven Private LLC boosted its position in Meta Platforms by 13.4% during the first quarter. Haven Private LLC now owns 694 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $400,000 after purchasing an additional 82 shares during the period. Finally, Blair William & Co. IL increased its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 46.1% in the first quarter. Blair William & Co. IL now owns 551,158 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $317,665,000 after purchasing an additional 173,886 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.91% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

META has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Guggenheim restated a "buy" rating and set a $800.00 price target (up from $725.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Monday, July 28th. Canaccord Genuity Group raised their price target on Meta Platforms from $825.00 to $850.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 16th. HSBC upgraded Meta Platforms from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and lifted their price target for the company from $610.00 to $900.00 in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Cantor Fitzgerald increased their price objective on Meta Platforms from $828.00 to $920.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, JMP Securities lifted their target price on Meta Platforms from $750.00 to $900.00 and gave the company a "market outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty-nine have issued a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $822.41.

Insider Buying and Selling at Meta Platforms

In other Meta Platforms news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 15,847 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction on Friday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $753.43, for a total transaction of $11,939,605.21. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Christopher K. Cox sold 60,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $775.95, for a total value of $46,557,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 237,205 shares in the company, valued at approximately $184,059,219.75. This represents a 20.19% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 260,024 shares of company stock valued at $188,466,159. Corporate insiders own 13.61% of the company's stock.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

Shares of META stock opened at $761.83 on Friday. The business's fifty day moving average is $711.99 and its 200 day moving average is $649.96. The company has a quick ratio of 1.97, a current ratio of 1.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. The stock has a market cap of $1.92 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.58, a PEG ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 1.27. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a twelve month low of $479.80 and a twelve month high of $784.75.

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

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

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

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.