Kingsman Wealth Management Inc. Acquires Shares of 23,582 Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Key Points

• Kingsman Wealth Management Inc. has acquired a new stake in Meta Platforms, purchasing 23,582 shares valued at approximately $13.6 million, making it the 2nd largest position in their investment portfolio.
• Insider trading activity has seen significant sales, with COO Javier Olivan and Director Robert M. Kimmitt selling shares, cumulatively reducing their ownership by 7.58% and 4.74% respectively.
• Meta Platforms recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.525 per share, giving it an annualized yield of 0.29% and a low payout ratio of 8.19%.

Kingsman Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 23,582 shares of the social networking company's stock, valued at approximately $13,592,000. Meta Platforms makes up 9.9% of Kingsman Wealth Management Inc.'s holdings, making the stock its 2nd largest position.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. GW&K Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 941.4% during the first quarter. GW&K Investment Management LLC now owns 15,153 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $8,734,000 after buying an additional 13,698 shares in the last quarter. Horizon Investment Services LLC increased its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 2.9% during the first quarter. Horizon Investment Services LLC now owns 9,204 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $5,305,000 after buying an additional 259 shares in the last quarter. Edgemoor Investment Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 19.9% during the first quarter. Edgemoor Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 923 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $532,000 after buying an additional 153 shares in the last quarter. Wealth Dimensions Group Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 4.0% during the first quarter. Wealth Dimensions Group Ltd. now owns 2,155 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $1,242,000 after buying an additional 83 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Aspire Growth Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 7.3% during the first quarter. Aspire Growth Partners LLC now owns 662 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $395,000 after buying an additional 45 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.91% of the company's stock.

Meta Platforms Trading Down 0.9%

Shares of META stock traded down $6.16 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $711.47. 3,558,057 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 15,318,961. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $694.03 and its 200 day simple moving average is $642.71. The stock has a market cap of $1.79 trillion, a PE 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 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 released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The social networking company reported $6.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.33 by $1.10. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 39.11% and a return on equity of 38.69%. The firm had revenue of $42.31 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $41.45 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $4.71 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 16.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 26th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 16th were given a dividend of $0.525 per share. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.30%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 16th. Meta Platforms's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 8.19%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently weighed in on META shares. Piper Sandler reissued an "overweight" rating and issued a $808.00 price target (up previously from $650.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Friday, June 27th. KeyCorp raised their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $655.00 to $800.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, July 17th. TD Securities lowered their price target 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. Pivotal Research lowered their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $875.00 to $830.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein raised their price target 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. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty-eight have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $754.07.

Insider Activity

In other Meta Platforms news, COO Javier Olivan sold 517 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, July 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $706.41, for a total value of $365,213.97. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 6,302 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,451,795.82. This trade represents a 7.58% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 519 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $716.10, for a total transaction of $371,655.90. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 26,069 shares of the company's stock, valued at $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. In the last three months, insiders have sold 151,944 shares of company stock valued at $104,965,570. 13.61% of the stock is owned by corporate 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.