Goldman Sachs Group Inc. Boosts Stock Position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Key Points

• Goldman Sachs increased its stake in Meta Platforms by 8.8% during Q1, owning approximately 15.6 million shares, making it the 8th largest position in their investment portfolio.
• Meta reported strong earnings for the last quarter, with an EPS of $7.14 compared to an estimate of $5.75, and a revenue of $47.52 billion, exceeding expectations.
• Institutional investors now own 79.91% of Meta Platforms, with several new stakes acquired in recent months, indicating strong institutional confidence in the stock.

Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 8.8% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 15,575,962 shares of the social networking company's stock after purchasing an additional 1,255,546 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms accounts for about 1.5% of Goldman Sachs Group Inc.'s portfolio, making the stock its 8th biggest position. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. owned approximately 0.61% of Meta Platforms worth $8,977,361,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Inlight Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the first quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Barnes Dennig Private Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the first quarter valued at approximately $28,000. MJT & Associates Financial Advisory Group Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the first quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Marshall & Sterling Wealth Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $45,000. Finally, JCIC Asset Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 102.6% during the first 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. 79.91% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Meta Platforms Trading Up 1.0%

Shares of META traded up $7.47 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $769.30. The company had a trading volume of 7,308,601 shares, compared to its average volume of 13,242,270. The firm has a market cap of $1.93 trillion, a P/E ratio of 27.85, a P/E/G ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 1.27. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $714.53 and its 200 day moving average price is $651.30. The company has a quick ratio of 1.97, a current ratio of 1.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 52-week low of $479.80 and a 52-week high of $784.75.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 30th. The social networking company reported $7.14 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.75 by $1.39. The firm had revenue of $47.52 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $44.55 billion. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 39.33% and a net margin of 39.99%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 21.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $5.16 earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 26th. Investors of record on Monday, June 16th were paid 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 (DPR) is presently 7.60%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently commented on META shares. Guggenheim reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $800.00 price target (up from $725.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Monday, July 28th. Bank of America increased their price objective on Meta Platforms from $775.00 to $900.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. UBS Group increased their price objective on Meta Platforms from $812.00 to $897.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Robert W. Baird raised their price target on Meta Platforms from $635.00 to $740.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 2nd. Finally, Loop Capital reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $980.00 price target (up from $888.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Tuesday, August 5th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty-nine have assigned a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $822.41.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 15,847 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $768.67, for a total value of $12,181,113.49. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Christopher K. Cox sold 15,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $767.80, for a total value of $11,517,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 222,205 shares in the company, valued at $170,608,999. The trade was a 6.32% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 275,024 shares of company stock valued at $199,983,159 over the last three months. 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.