Fayez Sarofim & Co Boosts Stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Key Points

• Fayez Sarofim & Co increased its holdings in Meta Platforms by 66.3%, owning 1,485,872 shares, which comprise 2.1% of its investment portfolio.
• In the first quarter alone, hedge funds and institutional investors now own 79.91% of Meta Platforms, highlighting strong institutional interest in the stock.
• Meta Platforms recently reported a strong quarterly performance, with earnings per share of $7.14, exceeding analysts' expectations and showing a significant revenue growth of 21.6% year-over-year.

Fayez Sarofim & Co grew its stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 66.3% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,485,872 shares of the social networking company's stock after buying an additional 592,190 shares during the period. Meta Platforms makes up approximately 2.1% of Fayez Sarofim & Co's holdings, making the stock its 12th biggest position. Fayez Sarofim & Co owned about 0.06% of Meta Platforms worth $860,503,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Inlight Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the first quarter worth about $25,000. Barnes Dennig Private Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the 1st quarter worth approximately $28,000. MJT & Associates Financial Advisory Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the 1st quarter worth approximately $33,000. Marshall & Sterling Wealth Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter worth $45,000. Finally, JCIC Asset Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 102.6% during the 1st quarter. JCIC Asset Management Inc. now owns 79 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $46,000 after acquiring an additional 40 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.91% of the company's stock.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

Shares of META stock traded up $2.35 during trading on Thursday, reaching $782.43. 6,732,904 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 15,334,524. The company has a market capitalization of $1.97 trillion, a P/E ratio of 28.33, a PEG ratio of 1.64 and a beta of 1.27. The company has a current ratio of 1.97, a quick ratio of 1.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. The firm's 50-day moving average is $720.73 and its 200 day moving average is $653.97. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1 year low of $479.80 and a 1 year high of $795.46.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last posted 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 business had revenue of $47.52 billion for 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 was up 21.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $5.16 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

META has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Scotiabank upped their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $675.00 to $685.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Rosenblatt Securities raised their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $846.00 to $918.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $750.00 to $850.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Pivotal Research lifted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $830.00 to $930.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, Citizens Jmp raised their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $750.00 to $900.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Four investment 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. According to data from MarketBeat, Meta Platforms has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $822.41.

Insider Activity

In related news, COO Javier Olivan sold 517 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $770.00, for a total transaction of $398,090.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer owned 4,751 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,658,270. This represents a 9.81% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Christopher K. Cox sold 15,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $767.80, for a total transaction of $11,517,000.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 222,205 shares in the company, valued at $170,608,999. This trade represents a 6.32% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 292,211 shares of company stock worth $215,232,155. 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.