Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) is Natixis Advisors LLC's 5th Largest Position

Key Points

• Natixis Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. by 8.1% in the first quarter, now owning approximately 1,865,047 shares valued at over $1.07 billion.
• Meta Platforms reported a 21.6% increase in revenue year-over-year, with a quarterly earnings per share (EPS) of $7.14 that exceeded estimates by $1.39.
• The company recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.525 per share, translating to an annualized dividend of $2.10 and a dividend yield of 0.3%.

Natixis Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 8.1% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,865,047 shares of the social networking company's stock after purchasing an additional 140,424 shares during the period. Meta Platforms comprises approximately 2.0% of Natixis Advisors LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 5th biggest position. Natixis Advisors LLC owned about 0.07% of Meta Platforms worth $1,074,939,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in META. Csenge Advisory Group lifted its stake in Meta Platforms by 12.0% in the first quarter. Csenge Advisory Group now owns 9,539 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $5,498,000 after purchasing an additional 1,019 shares during the last quarter. Suvretta Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Meta Platforms by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. Suvretta Capital Management LLC now owns 170,338 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $99,735,000 after purchasing an additional 1,850 shares during the last quarter. Skye Global Management LP lifted its stake in Meta Platforms by 130.9% in the fourth quarter. Skye Global Management LP now owns 76,200 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $44,616,000 after purchasing an additional 43,200 shares during the last quarter. ARQ Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Meta Platforms by 4.5% in the first quarter. ARQ Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 785 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $452,000 after purchasing an additional 34 shares during the last quarter. Finally, JMG Financial Group Ltd. purchased a new position in Meta Platforms in the first quarter valued at approximately $284,000. 79.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Christopher K. Cox sold 60,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $775.95, for a total value of $46,557,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 237,205 shares in the company, valued at $184,059,219.75. The trade was a 20.19% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 15,847 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 1st. The stock was 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. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 260,024 shares of company stock worth $188,466,159. Insiders own 13.61% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. Loop Capital restated a "buy" rating and set a $980.00 target price (up previously from $888.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Tuesday. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on Meta Platforms from $685.00 to $690.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. DA Davidson increased their price objective on Meta Platforms from $650.00 to $825.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on Meta Platforms from $610.00 to $710.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, Pivotal Research increased their price objective on Meta Platforms from $830.00 to $930.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. 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's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $822.41.

Meta Platforms Stock Up 0.7%

META traded up $5.15 on Friday, hitting $766.98. The company had a trading volume of 4,292,213 shares, compared to its average volume of 15,471,760. 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, Inc. has a 52-week low of $479.80 and a 52-week high of $784.75. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $711.99 and a 200-day simple moving average of $649.96. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.93 trillion, a P/E ratio of 27.82, a P/E/G ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 1.27.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last released its 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. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 39.99% and a return on equity of 39.33%. The firm had revenue of $47.52 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $44.55 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $5.16 earnings per share. The business's revenue was up 21.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 26th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 16th were issued a dividend of $0.525 per share. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend 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%.

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.