Meeder Advisory Services Inc. Purchases 3,695 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Key Points

• Meeder Advisory Services Inc. increased its holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. by 9.4%, owning 43,021 shares valued at approximately $24.8 million at the end of the quarter.
• Meta Platforms reported a 21.6% year-over-year revenue increase, with earnings of $7.14 per share, surpassing analyst expectations of $5.75.
• Analysts are bullish on Meta Platforms, with price targets raised to as high as $900, reflecting a strong buy sentiment for the stock.

Meeder Advisory Services Inc. raised its holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 9.4% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 43,021 shares of the social networking company's stock after purchasing an additional 3,695 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms accounts for 1.5% of Meeder Advisory Services Inc.'s holdings, making the stock its 12th largest holding. Meeder Advisory Services Inc.'s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $24,795,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of META. Inlight Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Meta Platforms in the first quarter valued at $25,000. Barnes Dennig Private Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the first quarter worth approximately $28,000. MJT & Associates Financial Advisory Group Inc. acquired a new stake in Meta Platforms in the first quarter worth approximately $33,000. Marshall & Sterling Wealth Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter worth $45,000. Finally, JCIC Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 102.6% in the first quarter. JCIC Asset Management Inc. now owns 79 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $46,000 after purchasing an additional 40 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.91% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Meta Platforms

In related news, COO Javier Olivan sold 517 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $715.00, for a total transaction of $369,655.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 5,785 shares in the company, valued at $4,136,275. The trade was a 8.20% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 15,847 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $753.43, for a total transaction of $11,939,605.21. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 167,298 shares of company stock worth $116,742,790 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 13.61% of the company's stock.

Meta Platforms Stock Up 1.1%

Shares of NASDAQ:META traded up $8.33 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $771.79. 6,427,694 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 15,569,056. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12 month low of $479.80 and a 12 month high of $784.75. The company has a market cap of $1.94 trillion, a PE ratio of 27.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.59 and a beta of 1.27. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $707.08 and a 200-day moving average price of $648.07. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a current ratio of 1.97 and a quick ratio of 1.97.

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

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have issued reports on META. Monness Crespi & Hardt upped their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $780.00 to $860.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $845.00 to $900.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Pivotal Research upped their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $830.00 to $930.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Hsbc Global Res upgraded shares of Meta Platforms from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, Scotiabank raised their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $675.00 to $685.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Four equities 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average 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.