Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) Shares Acquired by Cooper Financial Group

Cooper Financial Group grew its stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 26.8% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 11,534 shares of the social networking company's stock after acquiring an additional 2,439 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms comprises approximately 0.9% of Cooper Financial Group's investment portfolio, making the stock its 23rd biggest position. Cooper Financial Group's holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $6,648,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of META. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 67,172.9% during the 1st 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. Northern Trust Corp increased its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 13.5% during the 4th 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. increased its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 712.2% during the 1st 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. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH purchased a new position in Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter valued at about $1,162,918,000. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 8.8% during the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 15,575,962 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $8,977,361,000 after acquiring an additional 1,255,546 shares during the period. 79.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Meta Platforms Trading Down 1.3%

Shares of META stock opened at $780.08 on Thursday. The business's fifty day moving average price is $720.73 and its 200 day moving average price is $653.97. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1-year low of $479.80 and a 1-year high of $795.46. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.96 trillion, a PE ratio of 28.24, a P/E/G ratio of 1.64 and a beta of 1.27. 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 announced its quarterly earnings data 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. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 39.33% and a net margin of 39.99%. The firm had revenue of $47.52 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $44.55 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $5.16 earnings per share. Meta Platforms's quarterly revenue was up 21.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently commented on META. Evercore ISI raised their target price on Meta Platforms from $725.00 to $750.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. TD Cowen raised their target price on Meta Platforms from $800.00 to $875.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Rosenblatt Securities raised their target price on Meta Platforms from $846.00 to $918.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Hsbc Global Res upgraded Meta Platforms from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, Moffett Nathanson lifted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $525.00 to $605.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Four equities research 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 company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $822.41.

Insider Transactions at Meta Platforms

In other Meta Platforms news, COO Javier Olivan sold 517 shares of the company's 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 of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,658,270. This represents a 9.81% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 1,037 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $785.18, for a total value of $814,231.66. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 292,211 shares of company stock worth $215,232,155 over the last ninety days. 13.61% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

About Meta Platforms

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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