Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) Shares Purchased by Fiera Capital Corp

Key Points

• Fiera Capital Corp increased its holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. by 12.7% in Q1, owning 40,138 shares valued at $23.13 million after purchasing an additional 4,528 shares.
• Meta recently reported earnings of $7.14 per share for the last quarter, surpassing analysts' expectations and reflecting a 21.6% increase in revenue year-over-year.
• The company also declared a quarterly dividend of $0.525, representing an annualized dividend yield of 0.3% with a dividend payout ratio of 8.19%.

Fiera Capital Corp grew its stake in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 12.7% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 40,138 shares of the social networking company's stock after purchasing an additional 4,528 shares during the period. Fiera Capital Corp's holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $23,134,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Valley Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in Meta Platforms by 2.4% during the 4th quarter. Valley Financial Group Inc. now owns 588 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $344,000 after acquiring an additional 14 shares during the period. Lantern Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in Meta Platforms by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Lantern Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,976 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $1,743,000 after acquiring an additional 14 shares in the last quarter. Riverwater Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 2.7% during the fourth quarter. Riverwater Partners LLC now owns 572 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $335,000 after purchasing an additional 15 shares during the last quarter. ABLE Financial Group LLC raised its holdings in Meta Platforms by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. ABLE Financial Group LLC now owns 2,136 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $1,251,000 after acquiring an additional 15 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mosaic Family Wealth Partners LLC raised its holdings in Meta Platforms by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. Mosaic Family Wealth Partners LLC now owns 1,435 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $840,000 after acquiring an additional 17 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.91% of the company's stock.

Meta Platforms Trading Up 1.1%

Shares of META stock traded up $8.33 on Wednesday, hitting $771.79. The company had a trading volume of 6,427,694 shares, compared to its average volume of 15,569,056. The stock's 50-day moving average is $707.08 and its two-hundred day moving average is $648.07. The firm has a market cap of $1.94 trillion, a P/E ratio of 27.93, a P/E/G 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. 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 announced its quarterly earnings results 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. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 39.33% and a net margin of 39.99%. The company had revenue of $47.52 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $44.55 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $5.16 earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 21.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 26th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 16th were given a $0.525 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 16th. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.3%. Meta Platforms's dividend payout ratio is currently 7.60%.

Insider Activity at Meta Platforms

In related 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 value of $11,939,605.21. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 22,449 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $636.85, for a total value of $14,296,645.65. Following the transaction, the chief technology officer directly owned 1,183 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $753,393.55. The trade was a 94.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 167,298 shares of company stock valued at $116,742,790 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 13.61% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on META shares. Bank of America boosted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $775.00 to $900.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. HSBC upgraded shares of Meta Platforms from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and raised their price target for the company from $610.00 to $900.00 in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Susquehanna decreased their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $800.00 to $700.00 and set a "positive" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $775.00 to $900.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, 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 report on Thursday, July 31st. Four 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 stock. According to MarketBeat, Meta Platforms has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target 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.