Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) is R Squared Ltd's 5th Largest Position

Key Points

• R Squared Ltd has increased its holdings in Meta Platforms by 125.3%, making it the firm's 5th largest position, valued at approximately $1.18 million.
• Meta Platforms reported a quarterly earnings per share of $7.14, exceeding estimates and showing a 21.6% increase in revenue year-over-year.
• The company recently declared a dividend of $0.525 per share, representing an annual yield of 0.3% with a low payout ratio of 7.60%.

R Squared Ltd increased its holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 125.3% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,050 shares of the social networking company's stock after purchasing an additional 1,140 shares during the period. Meta Platforms accounts for 1.3% of R Squared Ltd's holdings, making the stock its 5th biggest holding. R Squared Ltd's holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $1,182,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in META. Inlight Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the first quarter worth $25,000. Barnes Dennig Private Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms in the 1st quarter worth $28,000. MJT & Associates Financial Advisory Group Inc. bought a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the 1st quarter valued at about $33,000. Marshall & Sterling Wealth Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter valued at about $45,000. Finally, JCIC Asset Management Inc. lifted its position 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 worth $46,000 after buying an additional 40 shares in the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Meta Platforms Trading Up 1.1%

NASDAQ:META opened at $771.99 on Thursday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $709.65 and a 200-day simple moving average of $648.93. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a one year low of $479.80 and a one year high of $784.75. The firm has a market cap of $1.94 trillion, a P/E ratio of 27.95, a P/E/G ratio of 1.59 and a beta of 1.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a quick ratio of 1.97 and a current ratio of 1.97.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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%. Meta Platforms's revenue was up 21.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $5.16 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Meta Platforms news, COO Javier Olivan sold 517 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $760.26, for a total transaction of $393,054.42. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 5,268 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,005,049.68. This represents a 8.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Robert M. Kimmitt sold 465 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $723.08, for a total transaction of $336,232.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 9,342 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,755,013.36. The trade was a 4.74% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 199,509 shares of company stock valued at $141,509,323. Company insiders own 13.61% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

META has been the subject of a number of research reports. Sanford C. Bernstein raised their price target on Meta Platforms from $775.00 to $900.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $750.00 to $850.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Moffett Nathanson boosted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $525.00 to $605.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. JMP Securities increased their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $750.00 to $900.00 and gave the company a "market outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $725.00 to $750.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty-nine have given a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $822.41.

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.