Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) Shares Bought by Headlands Technologies LLC

Headlands Technologies LLC raised its position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 2,782.1% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 49,629 shares of the social networking company's stock after acquiring an additional 47,907 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms makes up approximately 3.3% of Headlands Technologies LLC's portfolio, making the stock its biggest position. Headlands Technologies LLC's holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $28,604,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Keb Asset Management LLC grew its position in Meta Platforms by 0.4% in the 1st quarter. Keb Asset Management LLC now owns 4,416 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $2,545,000 after acquiring an additional 18 shares in the last quarter. Waycross Partners LLC grew its position in Meta Platforms by 21.8% in the 1st quarter. Waycross Partners LLC now owns 83,997 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $48,413,000 after acquiring an additional 15,052 shares in the last quarter. 1834 Investment Advisors Co. grew its position in Meta Platforms by 8.1% in the 1st quarter. 1834 Investment Advisors Co. now owns 3,281 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $1,891,000 after acquiring an additional 245 shares in the last quarter. Deutsche Bank AG grew its position in Meta Platforms by 3.0% in the 1st quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 8,234,238 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $4,745,885,000 after acquiring an additional 240,344 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Roof Eidam Maycock Peralta LLC grew its position in Meta Platforms by 26.9% in the 1st quarter. Roof Eidam Maycock Peralta LLC now owns 1,444 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $832,000 after acquiring an additional 306 shares in the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on META shares. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $845.00 to $900.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Citizens Jmp boosted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $750.00 to $900.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $775.00 to $900.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Bank of America boosted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $775.00 to $900.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $685.00 to $690.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report 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 stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $822.41.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

Meta Platforms stock opened at $769.30 on Monday. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12 month low of $479.80 and a 12 month high of $784.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a current ratio of 1.97 and a quick ratio of 1.97. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $714.53 and a 200-day simple moving average of $651.30. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.93 trillion, a PE ratio of 27.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 1.27.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The social networking company reported $7.14 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.75 by $1.39. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 39.33% and a net margin of 39.99%. The business had revenue of $47.52 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $44.55 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $5.16 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was up 21.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts predict 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 paid 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 is 7.60%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 15,847 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $768.67, for a total transaction of $12,181,113.49. 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 the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $767.80, for a total value of $11,517,000.00. Following the sale, the insider owned 222,205 shares of the company's stock, valued at $170,608,999. This trade represents a 6.32% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 274,416 shares of company stock worth $199,599,359 over the last three months. 13.61% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.

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