Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) Shares Purchased by KLCM Advisors Inc.

KLCM Advisors Inc. lifted its position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 992.3% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 28,345 shares of the social networking company's stock after purchasing an additional 25,750 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms makes up 1.9% of KLCM Advisors Inc.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 16th biggest holding. KLCM Advisors Inc.'s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $16,337,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in META. Inlight Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the 1st quarter worth approximately $25,000. Barnes Dennig Private Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Meta Platforms in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $28,000. MJT & Associates Financial Advisory Group Inc. purchased a new position in Meta Platforms in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Marshall & Sterling Wealth Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $45,000. Finally, JCIC Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in Meta Platforms by 102.6% in the 1st quarter. JCIC Asset Management Inc. now owns 79 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $46,000 after purchasing an additional 40 shares in the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Meta Platforms

In other news, 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 sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Christopher K. Cox sold 60,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $775.95, for a total value of $46,557,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 237,205 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $184,059,219.75. This represents a 20.19% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 269,243 shares of company stock valued at $200,605,051. Insiders own 13.61% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

META has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Rosenblatt Securities raised their price objective on Meta Platforms from $846.00 to $918.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Needham & Company LLC raised Meta Platforms from an "underperform" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 3rd. Raymond James Financial raised their price objective on Meta Platforms from $750.00 to $900.00 and gave the company a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Truist Financial increased their target price on Meta Platforms from $700.00 to $720.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an "overweight" rating and set a $920.00 target price on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Wednesday. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty-nine have given a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $822.41.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

Shares of META stock opened at $785.23 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.97, a current ratio of 1.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. The business has a 50 day moving average of $724.43 and a two-hundred day moving average of $655.43. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 52 week low of $479.80 and a 52 week high of $796.25. The company has a market cap of $1.97 trillion, a P/E ratio of 28.43, a PEG ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 1.27.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results 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 company had revenue of $47.52 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $44.55 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $5.16 earnings per share. Meta Platforms's quarterly revenue was up 21.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 26th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 16th were given a dividend of $0.525 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 16th. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.3%. Meta Platforms's payout ratio is currently 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.

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