Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) Stake Increased by Trajan Wealth LLC

Trajan Wealth LLC increased its stake in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 3.0% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 106,987 shares of the social networking company's stock after purchasing an additional 3,137 shares during the period. Meta Platforms accounts for 3.4% of Trajan Wealth LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 6th largest position. Trajan Wealth LLC's holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $61,663,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in META. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 67,172.9% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 23,452,665 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $13,517,178,000 after acquiring an additional 23,417,803 shares in the last quarter. Nuveen LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the 1st quarter valued at about $2,990,544,000. Northern Trust Corp raised its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 13.5% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 23,445,565 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $13,727,613,000 after acquiring an additional 2,787,832 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 712.2% in the 1st quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 2,537,631 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $1,462,589,000 after acquiring an additional 2,225,186 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH purchased a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter valued at about $1,162,918,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.91% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Meta Platforms news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 1,037 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $785.18, for a total transaction of $814,231.66. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Christopher K. Cox sold 15,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $767.80, for a total value of $11,517,000.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 222,205 shares of the company's stock, valued at $170,608,999. This represents a 6.32% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 269,243 shares of company stock worth $200,605,051. Company insiders own 13.61% of the company's stock.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

Shares of META opened at $782.13 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a current ratio of 1.97 and a quick ratio of 1.97. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a one year low of $479.80 and a one year high of $795.46. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.96 trillion, a P/E ratio of 28.32, a PEG ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 1.27. The business has a fifty day moving average of $722.68 and a 200 day moving average of $654.81.

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

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have weighed in on META shares. Robert W. Baird raised their price target on Meta Platforms from $635.00 to $740.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 2nd. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on Meta Platforms from $845.00 to $900.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Needham & Company LLC raised Meta Platforms from an "underperform" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, July 3rd. Sanford C. Bernstein raised their price objective on Meta Platforms from $775.00 to $900.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, Guggenheim reissued 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 investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty-nine have given a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $822.41.

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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