Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) Shares Purchased by Lyell Wealth Management LP

Key Points

• Lyell Wealth Management LP increased its investment in Meta Platforms by 1.6%, owning 50,261 shares valued at approximately $28.97 million, making it the fund's fifth largest position.
• Meta recently reported impressive quarterly earnings of $7.14 per share, exceeding analysts' estimates, with revenue reaching $47.52 billion.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.525, reflecting an annualized yield of 0.3%, along with a low dividend payout ratio of 7.60%.

Lyell Wealth Management LP grew its position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 1.6% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 50,261 shares of the social networking company's stock after purchasing an additional 792 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms comprises approximately 2.7% of Lyell Wealth Management LP's investment portfolio, making the stock its 5th biggest holding. Lyell Wealth Management LP's holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $28,969,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of META. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings in Meta Platforms by 67,172.9% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 23,452,665 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $13,517,178,000 after purchasing an additional 23,417,803 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter worth $2,243,603,000. Northern Trust Corp grew its holdings in Meta Platforms by 13.5% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 23,445,565 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $13,727,613,000 after purchasing an additional 2,787,832 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its holdings in Meta Platforms by 712.2% in the first quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 2,537,631 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $1,462,589,000 after purchasing an additional 2,225,186 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH purchased a new position in Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter worth $1,162,918,000. 79.91% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

Meta Platforms stock traded down $12.91 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $763.46. 11,612,061 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 13,355,778. The firm has a market cap of $1.92 trillion, a P/E ratio of 27.64, a P/E/G ratio of 1.59 and a beta of 1.27. The company has a quick ratio of 1.97, a current ratio of 1.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $704.66 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $647.27. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1-year low of $478.65 and a 1-year high of $784.75.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The social networking company reported $7.14 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $5.75 by $1.39. The firm had revenue of $47.52 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations 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% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $5.16 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

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

Insider Activity at Meta Platforms

In related news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 15,847 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $753.43, for a total transaction of $11,939,605.21. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 22,449 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $636.85, for a total transaction of $14,296,645.65. Following the transaction, the chief technology officer directly owned 1,183 shares in the company, valued at $753,393.55. The trade was a 94.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 167,298 shares of company stock worth $116,742,790. 13.61% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on META shares. Moffett Nathanson boosted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $525.00 to $605.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Wedbush boosted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $750.00 to $920.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. DA Davidson boosted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $650.00 to $825.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $635.00 to $740.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 2nd. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target 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. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty-nine have issued a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $822.41.

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.