Dagco Inc. Purchases 387 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Key Points

• Dagco Inc. increased its stake in Meta Platforms by 41.4%, acquiring an additional 387 shares during the first quarter, bringing its total holdings to 1,322 shares valued at approximately $762,000.
• Several institutional investors have entered new positions in Meta Platforms, with notable additions including Inlight Wealth Management and Barnes Dennig Private Wealth Management, highlighting growing institutional interest in the stock.
• Meta Platforms reported strong quarterly earnings with an EPS of $7.14, surpassing expectations, and achieved 21.6% year-over-year revenue growth, amounting to $47.52 billion for the quarter.

Dagco Inc. boosted its position in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 41.4% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,322 shares of the social networking company's stock after acquiring an additional 387 shares during the quarter. Dagco Inc.'s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $762,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in META. Inlight Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Meta Platforms during the first quarter worth about $25,000. Barnes Dennig Private Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Meta Platforms during the first quarter worth about $28,000. MJT & Associates Financial Advisory Group Inc. bought a new position in Meta Platforms during the first quarter worth about $33,000. Marshall & Sterling Wealth Advisors Inc. bought a new position in Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter worth about $45,000. Finally, JCIC Asset Management Inc. increased its position in Meta Platforms by 102.6% during the first quarter. JCIC Asset Management Inc. now owns 79 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $46,000 after acquiring an additional 40 shares during the period. 79.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently commented on META. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $812.00 to $897.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $845.00 to $900.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Roth Capital increased their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $620.00 to $740.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. JMP Securities increased their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $750.00 to $900.00 and gave the stock a "market outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, Bank of America increased their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $775.00 to $900.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note 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 given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $822.41.

Meta Platforms Trading Up 0.4%

Shares of NASDAQ META traded up $3.10 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $785.23. The stock had a trading volume of 13,361,371 shares, compared to its average volume of 12,931,265. The firm has a market cap of $1.97 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 1.27. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a twelve month low of $479.80 and a twelve month high of $796.25. 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 company's 50 day moving average price is $724.43 and its 200 day moving average price is $655.43.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last released 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 analyst estimates of $44.55 billion. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 39.99% and a return on equity of 39.33%. Meta Platforms's revenue for the quarter was up 21.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $5.16 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared 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. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 16th. Meta Platforms's payout ratio is 7.60%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Meta Platforms

In other Meta Platforms news, insider Christopher K. Cox sold 15,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $767.80, for a total transaction of $11,517,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 222,205 shares in the company, valued at approximately $170,608,999. The trade was a 6.32% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 515 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $776.38, for a total transaction of $399,835.70. Following the sale, the insider owned 25,035 shares of the company's stock, valued at $19,436,673.30. This trade represents a 2.02% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 269,243 shares of company stock worth $200,605,051. 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.