GW&K Investment Management LLC Grows Stock Position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Key Points

• GW&K Investment Management LLC significantly expanded its position in Meta Platforms, acquiring 13,698 shares and increasing its holdings by 941.4% in the first quarter, now totaling 15,153 shares worth approximately $8.73 million.
• Numerous institutional investors raised their stakes, with Norges Bank and GAMMA Investing LLC making substantial investments, contributing to 79.91% of Meta's stock being owned by institutional investors.
• Analysts have adjusted their price targets for Meta, with several firms projecting prices up to $845, indicating a positive outlook despite recent insider sales by CEO Mark Zuckerberg and CFO Susan Li.

GW&K Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 941.4% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 15,153 shares of the social networking company's stock after acquiring an additional 13,698 shares during the period. GW&K Investment Management LLC's holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $8,734,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Csenge Advisory Group lifted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 12.0% in the first quarter. Csenge Advisory Group now owns 9,539 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $5,498,000 after buying an additional 1,019 shares in the last quarter. Suvretta Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. Suvretta Capital Management LLC now owns 170,338 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $99,735,000 after buying an additional 1,850 shares in the last quarter. Skye Global Management LP lifted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 130.9% in the fourth quarter. Skye Global Management LP now owns 76,200 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $44,616,000 after buying an additional 43,200 shares in the last quarter. ARQ Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 4.5% in the first quarter. ARQ Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 785 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $452,000 after buying an additional 34 shares in the last quarter. Finally, JMG Financial Group Ltd. bought a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the first quarter valued at $284,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.91% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Meta Platforms

In related news, Director Robert M. Kimmitt sold 465 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $723.08, for a total transaction of $336,232.20. Following the completion of the transaction, 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 position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 519 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $716.10, for a total value of $371,655.90. Following the transaction, the insider owned 26,069 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $18,668,010.90. This trade represents a 1.95% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 151,944 shares of company stock valued at $104,965,570. 13.61% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

NASDAQ:META traded down $6.16 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $711.47. The company's stock had a trading volume of 3,558,057 shares, compared to its average volume of 15,318,961. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12-month low of $450.80 and a 12-month high of $747.90. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $694.03 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $642.71. The company has a current ratio of 2.66, a quick ratio of 2.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. The stock has a market cap of $1.79 trillion, a P/E ratio of 27.78, a PEG ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 1.28.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The social networking company reported $6.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $5.33 by $1.10. The business had revenue of $42.31 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $41.45 billion. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 38.69% and a net margin of 39.11%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 16.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $4.71 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

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. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 16th. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.30%. Meta Platforms's dividend payout ratio is currently 8.19%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently commented on the stock. Sanford C. Bernstein increased their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $700.00 to $775.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $664.00 to $783.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. TD Securities lowered their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $725.00 to $700.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $650.00 to $750.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, July 21st. Finally, JMP Securities reiterated a "market outperform" rating and issued a $750.00 target price on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty-eight have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $754.07.

About Meta Platforms

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.