Ignite Planners LLC Grows Stock Position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Key Points

• Ignite Planners LLC increased its stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. by 10.8%, owning 8,478 shares valued at approximately $4.85 million, ranking it as the 21st largest holding in their portfolio.
• Meta Platforms reported a quarterly EPS of $6.43, significantly beating expectations of $5.33, with revenue of $42.31 billion, a 16.1% increase year-over-year.
• Recent transactions disclose that insiders, including Director Robert M. Kimmitt and CEO Mark Zuckerberg, have sold shares, totaling over $105 million in the last quarter, while institutional investors own nearly 80% of the stock.

Ignite Planners LLC increased its holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 10.8% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 8,478 shares of the social networking company's stock after acquiring an additional 828 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms comprises approximately 0.9% of Ignite Planners LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 21st biggest position. Ignite Planners LLC's holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $4,851,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in META. Inlight Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the first quarter valued at $25,000. Barnes Dennig Private Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the first quarter valued at $28,000. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter valued at $43,000. Marshall & Sterling Wealth Advisors Inc. bought a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter valued at $45,000. Finally, JCIC Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings 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 in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.91% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently commented on META shares. Pivotal Research dropped their price objective on Meta Platforms from $875.00 to $830.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Cantor Fitzgerald increased their price objective on Meta Platforms from $807.00 to $828.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 16th. Moffett Nathanson increased their price objective on Meta Platforms from $525.00 to $605.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $740.00 price objective on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on Meta Platforms from $635.00 to $740.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 2nd. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty-eight have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Meta Platforms presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $754.07.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Meta Platforms news, COO Javier Olivan sold 517 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $706.41, for a total value of $365,213.97. Following the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 6,302 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,451,795.82. This trade represents a 7.58% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 519 shares of the firm'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 completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 26,069 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,668,010.90. The trade was a 1.95% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 151,944 shares of company stock valued at $104,965,570 in the last three months. 13.61% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:META traded down $6.16 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $711.47. The stock had a trading volume of 3,558,057 shares, compared to its average volume of 15,318,961. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.79 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 1.28. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12-month low of $450.80 and a 12-month high of $747.90. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $694.03 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $642.71. The company has a quick ratio of 2.66, a current ratio of 2.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16.

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

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 26th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 16th were issued a $0.525 dividend. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.30%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 16th. Meta Platforms's payout ratio is currently 8.19%.

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.