Costello Asset Management INC Buys 2,224 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Costello Asset Management INC increased its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 788.7% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 2,506 shares of the social networking company's stock after acquiring an additional 2,224 shares during the period. Costello Asset Management INC's holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $1,445,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. Encompass More Asset Management grew its position in Meta Platforms by 12.7% during the 1st quarter. Encompass More Asset Management now owns 1,741 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $1,004,000 after acquiring an additional 196 shares during the last quarter. Aquire Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in Meta Platforms by 12.0% during the 1st quarter. Aquire Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 467 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $269,000 after acquiring an additional 50 shares during the last quarter. Advyzon Investment Management LLC grew its position in Meta Platforms by 1.7% during the 1st quarter. Advyzon Investment Management LLC now owns 5,316 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $3,064,000 after acquiring an additional 91 shares during the last quarter. Thoroughbred Financial Services LLC grew its position in Meta Platforms by 2.2% during the 1st quarter. Thoroughbred Financial Services LLC now owns 29,938 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $17,255,000 after acquiring an additional 645 shares during the last quarter. Finally, W.H. Cornerstone Investments Inc. grew its position in Meta Platforms by 53.8% during the 1st quarter. W.H. Cornerstone Investments Inc. now owns 946 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $545,000 after acquiring an additional 331 shares during the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 22,449 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $636.85, for a total transaction of $14,296,645.65. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief technology officer owned 1,183 shares in the company, valued at approximately $753,393.55. This trade represents a 94.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Christopher K. Cox sold 60,000 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the insider owned 237,205 shares of the company's stock, valued at $184,059,219.75. The trade was a 20.19% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 275,024 shares of company stock worth $199,983,159. Company insiders own 13.61% of the company's stock.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ META opened at $769.30 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.93 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.85, a PEG ratio of 1.58 and a beta of 1.27. The business has a 50-day moving average of $714.53 and a 200-day moving average of $651.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a current ratio of 1.97 and a quick ratio of 1.97. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $479.80 and a fifty-two week high of $784.75.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 30th. The social networking company reported $7.14 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.75 by $1.39. The company had revenue of $47.52 billion during 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 revenue for the quarter was up 21.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $5.16 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

META has been the topic of several research reports. Sanford C. Bernstein upped their price objective on Meta Platforms from $775.00 to $900.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on Meta Platforms from $635.00 to $740.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 2nd. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on Meta Platforms from $750.00 to $850.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. DA Davidson upped their price objective on Meta Platforms from $650.00 to $825.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald upped 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. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty-nine have given a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Meta Platforms has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $822.41.

About Meta Platforms

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.

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