EFG Asset Management Americas Corp. Makes New $7.36 Million Investment in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Key Points

• EFG Asset Management Americas Corp. invested approximately $7.36 million in Meta Platforms, acquiring 12,777 shares, making META the 19th largest position in their portfolio.
• Meta Platforms reported a strong quarterly earnings performance, with $7.14 earnings per share, surpassing estimates by $1.39 and a revenue of $47.52 billion, reflecting a 21.6% year-over-year growth.
• Brokerages have increased their price targets for Meta Platforms, with ratings ranging from "buy" to "outperform", suggesting positive investor sentiment around the stock.

EFG Asset Management Americas Corp. purchased a new position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 12,777 shares of the social networking company's stock, valued at approximately $7,364,000. Meta Platforms comprises about 1.5% of EFG Asset Management Americas Corp.'s portfolio, making the stock its 19th biggest position.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Pasadena Private Wealth LLC raised its position in Meta Platforms by 3.1% during the 1st quarter. Pasadena Private Wealth LLC now owns 908 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $523,000 after buying an additional 27 shares during the last quarter. Coastal Bridge Advisors LLC raised its position in Meta Platforms by 1.5% during the 1st quarter. Coastal Bridge Advisors LLC now owns 6,776 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $3,905,000 after buying an additional 99 shares during the last quarter. US Financial Advisors LLC raised its position in Meta Platforms by 11.1% during the 1st quarter. US Financial Advisors LLC now owns 641 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $369,000 after buying an additional 64 shares during the last quarter. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management raised its position in Meta Platforms by 0.7% during the 1st quarter. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management now owns 84,062 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $48,450,000 after buying an additional 594 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Harbour Investments Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 3.2% in the 1st quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. now owns 11,400 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $6,571,000 after purchasing an additional 350 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.91% of the company's stock.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

Shares of META traded down $12.91 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $763.46. 11,612,061 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 13,355,778. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1-year low of $478.65 and a 1-year high of $784.75. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.92 trillion, a PE ratio of 27.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.59 and a beta of 1.27. 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 business's 50 day moving average price is $704.66 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $647.27.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The social networking company reported $7.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.75 by $1.39. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 39.99% and a return on equity of 39.33%. The company had revenue of $47.52 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $44.55 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $5.16 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 21.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current fiscal 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 given a $0.525 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 16th. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.3%. Meta Platforms's payout ratio is 7.60%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Meta Platforms

In other Meta Platforms news, Director Robert M. Kimmitt sold 465 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $723.08, for a total value of $336,232.20. Following the sale, the director directly owned 9,342 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,755,013.36. The trade was a 4.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 519 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $719.86, for a total transaction of $373,607.34. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 25,550 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,392,423. This trade represents a 1.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 167,298 shares of company stock valued at $116,742,790 in the last ninety days. 13.61% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on META. Benchmark reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $890.00 price target (up previously from $800.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Oppenheimer increased their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $775.00 to $870.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Monness Crespi & Hardt increased their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $780.00 to $860.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. KeyCorp increased their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $800.00 to $905.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, TD Securities lowered their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $725.00 to $700.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty-nine have assigned a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $822.41.

Meta Platforms 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.