Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) Shares Acquired by Brio Consultants LLC

Key Points

• Brio Consultants LLC significantly increased its holdings in Meta Platforms by 14,840.2% during the first quarter, making Meta approximately 26.4% of their portfolio, valued at over $71 million.
• Meta Platforms reported a second-quarter EPS of $7.14, exceeding analysts' expectations of $5.75, with a revenue of $47.52 billion, marking a 21.6% increase year-over-year.
• Several analysts have recently revised their price targets for Meta, with notable increases setting the new target price as high as $900, indicating strong market optimism.

Brio Consultants LLC boosted its holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 14,840.2% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 123,406 shares of the social networking company's stock after purchasing an additional 122,580 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms accounts for about 26.4% of Brio Consultants LLC's portfolio, making the stock its largest holding. Brio Consultants LLC's holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $71,126,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Valley Financial Group Inc. grew its position in Meta Platforms by 2.4% during the 4th quarter. Valley Financial Group Inc. now owns 588 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $344,000 after acquiring an additional 14 shares during the last quarter. Lantern Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in Meta Platforms by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Lantern Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,976 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $1,743,000 after buying an additional 14 shares during the period. Riverwater Partners LLC increased its position in Meta Platforms by 2.7% during the 4th quarter. Riverwater Partners LLC now owns 572 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $335,000 after purchasing an additional 15 shares in the last quarter. ABLE Financial Group LLC boosted its position in Meta Platforms by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. ABLE Financial Group LLC now owns 2,136 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $1,251,000 after acquiring an additional 15 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mosaic Family Wealth Partners LLC raised its position in Meta Platforms by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. Mosaic Family Wealth Partners LLC now owns 1,435 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $840,000 after acquiring an additional 17 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 79.91% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 15,847 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $753.43, for a total value of $11,939,605.21. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 22,449 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, May 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $636.85, for a total transaction of $14,296,645.65. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief technology officer directly owned 1,183 shares in the company, valued at $753,393.55. This trade represents a 94.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 167,298 shares of company stock valued at $116,742,790. 13.61% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Meta Platforms Stock Up 1.1%

Shares of Meta Platforms stock traded up $8.21 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $771.67. 6,427,694 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 15,569,056. The stock has a market cap of $1.94 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.59 and a beta of 1.27. 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 firm's 50-day moving average price is $707.08 and its 200 day moving average price is $648.07.

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. 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 the consensus estimate of $44.55 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $5.16 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 21.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share 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 given a $0.525 dividend. The ex-dividend date 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%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

META has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $635.00 to $740.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 2nd. TD Securities decreased their price objective on Meta Platforms from $725.00 to $700.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Benchmark upped their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $800.00 to $890.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Guggenheim reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $800.00 price objective (up from $725.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Monday, July 28th. Finally, Monness Crespi & Hardt boosted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $780.00 to $860.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty-nine have assigned a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Meta Platforms currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $822.41.

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.