Independent Advisor Alliance Buys 2,474 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Key Points

• Independent Advisor Alliance increased its stake in Meta Platforms by 3.0%, owning a total of 85,862 shares valued at approximately $49.49 million, making it the firm's 7th largest holding.
• Institutional investors collectively own 79.91% of Meta Platforms' stock, with significant increases in holdings from other firms like Price T Rowe Associates and GAMMA Investing.
• Meta reported $7.14 EPS for the last quarter, exceeding estimates, along with a 21.6% year-over-year revenue growth to $47.52 billion.

Independent Advisor Alliance boosted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 3.0% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 85,862 shares of the social networking company's stock after buying an additional 2,474 shares during the period. Meta Platforms comprises 1.6% of Independent Advisor Alliance's investment portfolio, making the stock its 7th largest holding. Independent Advisor Alliance's holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $49,487,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of META. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 2.5% in the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 42,317,434 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $24,777,282,000 after purchasing an additional 1,049,121 shares during the period. Capital World Investors increased its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 2.9% in the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 40,317,105 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $23,606,338,000 after purchasing an additional 1,141,355 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 67,172.9% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 23,452,665 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $13,517,178,000 after buying an additional 23,417,803 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp grew its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 13.5% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 23,445,565 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $13,727,613,000 after buying an additional 2,787,832 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 2.3% in the 1st quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 17,669,795 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $10,184,163,000 after buying an additional 400,927 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.91% of the company's stock.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

Meta Platforms stock opened at $782.13 on Friday. 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 stock has a fifty day moving average price of $722.68 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $654.81. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 52-week low of $479.80 and a 52-week high of $795.46. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.96 trillion, a P/E ratio of 28.32, a P/E/G ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 1.27.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 30th. The social networking company reported $7.14 earnings per share (EPS) 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $44.55 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $5.16 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 21.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed 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 dividend payout ratio is currently 7.60%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently commented on META. Monness Crespi & Hardt boosted their price target on Meta Platforms from $780.00 to $860.00 and gave the company a "buy" 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. Citizens Jmp boosted their price target on Meta Platforms from $750.00 to $900.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on Meta Platforms from $845.00 to $900.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Meta Platforms from $795.00 to $875.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $822.41.

Insider Buying and Selling at Meta Platforms

In other news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 15,847 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $753.43, for a total transaction of $11,939,605.21. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Christopher K. Cox sold 60,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $775.95, for a total value of $46,557,000.00. Following the sale, the insider owned 237,205 shares in the company, valued at $184,059,219.75. The trade was a 20.19% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 269,243 shares of company stock valued at $200,605,051 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 13.61% of the company's stock.

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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