Nuveen LLC Invests $2.99 Billion in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Key Points

• Nuveen LLC invested approximately $2.99 billion in Meta Platforms by purchasing over 5.2 million shares, making it one of the fund's top holdings.
• Analysts remain optimistic about Meta Platforms' stock, with several boosting their price targets to a range between $900 and $930 per share, reflecting a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy."
• Meta Platforms reported strong earnings for the last quarter, with earnings per share of $7.14 and revenue of $47.52 billion, surpassing analysts' estimates.

Nuveen LLC bought a new stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 5,248,001 shares of the social networking company's stock, valued at approximately $2,990,544,000. Meta Platforms makes up approximately 0.9% of Nuveen LLC's holdings, making the stock its 16th largest holding. Nuveen LLC owned approximately 0.21% of Meta Platforms at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Brighton Jones LLC raised its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.7% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 34,551 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $20,230,000 after acquiring an additional 570 shares during the last quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC lifted its stake in Meta Platforms by 10.2% during the 4th quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 9,456 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $5,537,000 after acquiring an additional 875 shares in the last quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG boosted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 3.5% during the 4th quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG now owns 221,459 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $129,666,000 after acquiring an additional 7,587 shares during the last quarter. Highview Capital Management LLC DE grew its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 3.7% in the 4th quarter. Highview Capital Management LLC DE now owns 6,189 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $3,624,000 after acquiring an additional 218 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Benchstone Capital Management LP purchased a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter valued at about $23,749,000. 79.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

META has been the topic of several analyst reports. Citizens Jmp boosted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $750.00 to $900.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Pivotal Research boosted their target price on Meta Platforms from $830.00 to $930.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Raymond James Financial upped their target price on Meta Platforms from $750.00 to $900.00 and gave the company a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Rosenblatt Securities lifted their price target on Meta Platforms from $846.00 to $918.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on Meta Platforms from $845.00 to $900.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Four 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, Meta Platforms presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $822.41.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

Meta Platforms stock opened at $780.08 on Thursday. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $720.73 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $653.97. The company has a quick ratio of 1.97, a current ratio of 1.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a twelve month low of $479.80 and a twelve month high of $795.46. The company has a market capitalization of $1.96 trillion, a PE ratio of 28.24, a P/E/G ratio of 1.64 and a beta of 1.27.

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 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 analyst estimates 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 quarter in the previous year, the company posted $5.16 EPS. Research analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 26th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 16th were issued a $0.525 dividend. 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 dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 7.60%.

Insider Transactions at Meta Platforms

In related news, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 22,449 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, May 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $636.85, for a total transaction of $14,296,645.65. Following the completion of the sale, the chief technology officer directly owned 1,183 shares in the company, valued at $753,393.55. This represents a 94.99% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Christopher K. Cox sold 60,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the insider directly owned 237,205 shares of the company's stock, valued at $184,059,219.75. The trade was a 20.19% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 292,211 shares of company stock worth $215,232,155. Insiders own 13.61% of the company's stock.

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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