Gouws Capital LLC Purchases 1,380 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Gouws Capital LLC raised its position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 230.0% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 1,980 shares of the social networking company's stock after acquiring an additional 1,380 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms makes up 0.7% of Gouws Capital LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 25th biggest holding. Gouws Capital LLC's holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $1,141,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of META. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 67,172.9% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 23,452,665 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $13,517,178,000 after buying an additional 23,417,803 shares during the period. Nuveen LLC bought a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the first quarter worth about $2,990,544,000. Northern Trust Corp raised its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 13.5% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 23,445,565 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $13,727,613,000 after buying an additional 2,787,832 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its stake in Meta Platforms by 712.2% during the 1st quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 2,537,631 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $1,462,589,000 after purchasing an additional 2,225,186 shares during the period. Finally, Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH bought a new stake in Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $1,162,918,000. Institutional investors own 79.91% of the company's stock.

Meta Platforms Stock Up 0.3%

Shares of META stock opened at $782.13 on Friday. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1-year low of $479.80 and a 1-year high of $795.46. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $722.68 and its 200 day moving average price is $654.81. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a current ratio of 1.97 and a quick ratio of 1.97. The company has a market cap of $1.96 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 1.27.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The social networking company reported $7.14 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 firm had revenue of $47.52 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $44.55 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $5.16 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 21.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The company 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 16th. Meta Platforms's payout ratio is presently 7.60%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

META has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Needham & Company LLC raised Meta Platforms from an "underperform" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 3rd. Wedbush lifted their target price on Meta Platforms from $750.00 to $920.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Hsbc Global Res raised Meta Platforms from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Susquehanna decreased their target price on Meta Platforms from $800.00 to $700.00 and set a "positive" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, KeyCorp raised their price target on Meta Platforms from $800.00 to $905.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty-nine have given a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $822.41.

Insider Transactions at Meta Platforms

In other Meta Platforms news, insider Christopher K. Cox sold 15,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated 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 owned 222,205 shares in the company, valued at approximately $170,608,999. The trade was a 6.32% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 517 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $770.00, for a total value of $398,090.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer owned 4,751 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,658,270. The trade was a 9.81% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 269,243 shares of company stock worth $200,605,051 in the last 90 days. 13.61% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.

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