Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) Shares Acquired by AIA Group Ltd

AIA Group Ltd raised its position in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 9.9% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 102,192 shares of the social networking company's stock after purchasing an additional 9,178 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms makes up approximately 1.4% of AIA Group Ltd's investment portfolio, making the stock its 9th largest holding. AIA Group Ltd's holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $58,899,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in META. Valley Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 2.4% in the 4th quarter. Valley Financial Group Inc. now owns 588 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $344,000 after purchasing an additional 14 shares in the last quarter. Lantern Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Lantern Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,976 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $1,743,000 after purchasing an additional 14 shares in the last quarter. ABLE Financial Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. ABLE Financial Group LLC now owns 2,136 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $1,251,000 after purchasing an additional 15 shares in the last quarter. Mosaic Family Wealth Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. Mosaic Family Wealth Partners LLC now owns 1,435 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $840,000 after purchasing an additional 17 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Orin Green Financial LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 2.2% in the 4th quarter. Orin Green Financial LLC now owns 795 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $465,000 after purchasing an additional 17 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.91% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have weighed in on META shares. Benchmark raised their price objective on Meta Platforms from $800.00 to $890.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. TD Cowen raised their price objective on Meta Platforms from $800.00 to $875.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on Meta Platforms from $685.00 to $690.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Scotiabank raised their price objective on Meta Platforms from $675.00 to $685.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on Meta Platforms from $610.00 to $710.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty-nine have given a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Meta Platforms has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $822.41.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

NASDAQ META opened at $782.13 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.97, a current ratio of 1.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 52-week low of $479.80 and a 52-week high of $795.46. The business's 50-day moving average price is $722.68 and its 200 day moving average price is $654.81. The firm has a market cap of $1.96 trillion, a P/E ratio of 28.32, a P/E/G ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 1.27.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 30th. The social networking company reported $7.14 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $5.75 by $1.39. The firm 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 was up 21.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $5.16 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared 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 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 (DPR) is presently 7.60%.

Insider Activity at Meta Platforms

In other news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 515 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $776.38, for a total transaction of $399,835.70. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 25,035 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,436,673.30. This trade represents a 2.02% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Christopher K. Cox sold 15,000 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $767.80, for a total transaction of $11,517,000.00. Following the sale, the insider owned 222,205 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $170,608,999. The trade was a 6.32% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 269,243 shares of company stock valued at $200,605,051 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 13.61% of the company's stock.

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.

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