LaSalle St. Investment Advisors LLC Buys 647 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Key Points

• LaSalle St. Investment Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Meta Platforms by 38.1% during the first quarter, acquiring an additional 647 shares and bringing their total to 2,346 shares valued at approximately $1,352,000.
• Several institutional investors have also made new investments in Meta, indicating strong ongoing interest in the company, with institutional ownership now at 79.91%.
• Analysts have generally positive outlooks for Meta, with 39 buy ratings and a recent price target increase to $897.00 by UBS Group, contributing to a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy".

LaSalle St. Investment Advisors LLC grew its stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 38.1% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,346 shares of the social networking company's stock after acquiring an additional 647 shares during the period. LaSalle St. Investment Advisors LLC's holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $1,352,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on META. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $845.00 to $900.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. TD Cowen boosted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $800.00 to $875.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Canaccord Genuity Group boosted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $825.00 to $850.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 16th. Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $808.00 to $880.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, Susquehanna decreased their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $800.00 to $700.00 and set a "positive" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty-nine have assigned a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $822.41.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Christopher K. Cox sold 15,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $767.80, for a total value of $11,517,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 222,205 shares in the company, valued at $170,608,999. This represents a 6.32% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 517 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction on Monday, August 11th. The stock was 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 $3,658,270. The trade was a 9.81% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 292,211 shares of company stock worth $215,232,155. Company insiders own 13.61% of the company's stock.

Meta Platforms Stock Up 0.3%

META traded up $2.35 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $782.43. 6,732,904 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 15,334,524. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1 year low of $479.80 and a 1 year high of $795.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a quick ratio of 1.97 and a current ratio of 1.97. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.97 trillion, a PE ratio of 28.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.64 and a beta of 1.27. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $720.73 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $653.97.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The social networking company reported $7.14 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.75 by $1.39. The company had revenue of $47.52 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $44.55 billion. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 39.99% and a return on equity of 39.33%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 21.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $5.16 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 26th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 16th were issued a $0.525 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 16th. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.3%. Meta Platforms's dividend payout ratio is currently 7.60%.

Meta Platforms Company 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.