Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) Shares Purchased by Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd.

Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 7.4% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 695,003 shares of the social networking company's stock after purchasing an additional 47,597 shares during the period. Meta Platforms makes up 2.3% of Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd.'s holdings, making the stock its 5th biggest holding. Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd.'s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $400,612,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Inlight Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Meta Platforms during the 1st quarter worth approximately $25,000. Barnes Dennig Private Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the 1st quarter worth approximately $28,000. MJT & Associates Financial Advisory Group Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the 1st quarter worth approximately $33,000. Marshall & Sterling Wealth Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter worth approximately $45,000. Finally, JCIC Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 102.6% during the 1st 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. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.91% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on META. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $750.00 to $850.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Rosenblatt Securities boosted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $846.00 to $918.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $640.00 to $810.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Benchmark boosted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $800.00 to $890.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, Moffett Nathanson boosted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $525.00 to $605.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty-nine have issued a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $822.41.

Insider Transactions at Meta Platforms

In other news, insider Christopher K. Cox sold 60,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $775.95, for a total transaction of $46,557,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 237,205 shares in the company, valued at $184,059,219.75. This represents a 20.19% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, 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 transaction of $11,939,605.21. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 269,243 shares of company stock worth $200,605,051. 13.61% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

NASDAQ:META opened at $785.23 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $1.97 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 1.27. The company has a current ratio of 1.97, a quick ratio of 1.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. The company's 50-day moving average is $724.43 and its two-hundred day moving average is $655.57. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12-month low of $479.80 and a 12-month high of $796.25.

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 analysts' consensus estimates of $5.75 by $1.39. The company had revenue of $47.52 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $44.55 billion. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 39.99% and a return on equity of 39.33%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 21.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $5.16 EPS. Research analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 26th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 16th were issued a $0.525 dividend. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 16th. Meta Platforms's dividend payout ratio is 7.60%.

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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