Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) Shares Acquired by Morningstar Investment Management LLC

Key Points

• Morningstar Investment Management LLC increased its stake in Meta Platforms by 10.7%, owning 42,620 shares valued at approximately $24.56 million, making it the 13th largest position in their portfolio.
• Meta Platforms reported $7.14 earnings per share for the last quarter, exceeding analyst estimates of $5.75 and showing a 21.6% year-over-year revenue growth.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.525, representing an annualized yield of 0.3%, with an 8.19% payout ratio.

Morningstar Investment Management LLC increased its position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 10.7% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 42,620 shares of the social networking company's stock after purchasing an additional 4,106 shares during the period. Meta Platforms accounts for about 2.1% of Morningstar Investment Management LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 13th biggest holding. Morningstar Investment Management LLC's holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $24,564,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Inlight Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the first quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Barnes Dennig Private Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Meta Platforms during the first quarter worth approximately $28,000. MJT & Associates Financial Advisory Group Inc. bought a new stake in Meta Platforms during the first quarter worth approximately $33,000. Marshall & Sterling Wealth Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter worth approximately $45,000. Finally, JCIC Asset Management Inc. grew its position in 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 during the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

META has been the topic of several recent research reports. Monness Crespi & Hardt lifted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $780.00 to $860.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Susquehanna dropped their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $800.00 to $700.00 and set a "positive" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Cantor Fitzgerald upped their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $828.00 to $920.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Loop Capital restated a "buy" rating and issued a $980.00 price objective (up from $888.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Tuesday. Finally, Guggenheim restated a "buy" rating and set a $800.00 price objective (up from $725.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Monday, July 28th. Four equities 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $822.41.

Meta Platforms Stock Up 1.1%

META traded up $8.33 on Wednesday, hitting $771.79. The company had a trading volume of 6,427,694 shares, compared to its average volume of 15,569,056. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a quick ratio of 1.97 and a current ratio of 1.97. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.94 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.93, a P/E/G ratio of 1.59 and a beta of 1.27. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $707.08 and a 200-day moving average price of $648.07. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12-month low of $479.80 and a 12-month high of $784.75.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The social networking company reported $7.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $5.75 by $1.39. The company had revenue of $47.52 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $44.55 billion. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 39.33% and a net margin of 39.99%. Meta Platforms's revenue for the quarter was up 21.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $5.16 earnings per share. Analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced 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. 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 presently 7.60%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 15,847 shares of the firm'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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 22,449 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $636.85, for a total value of $14,296,645.65. Following the completion of the sale, the chief technology officer directly owned 1,183 shares of the company's stock, valued at $753,393.55. This represents a 94.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 167,298 shares of company stock worth $116,742,790. 13.61% of the stock is owned by corporate 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.