PNC Financial Services Group Inc. Boosts Stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

PNC Financial Services Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 3.0% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,295,495 shares of the social networking company's stock after purchasing an additional 37,558 shares during the period. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. owned 0.05% of Meta Platforms worth $746,672,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in Meta Platforms by 67,172.9% during 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 purchasing an additional 23,417,803 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter valued at $2,243,603,000. Northern Trust Corp boosted its stake in Meta Platforms by 13.5% during 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 purchasing an additional 2,787,832 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its stake in Meta Platforms by 712.2% during 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 purchasing an additional 2,225,186 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter valued at $1,162,918,000. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 15,847 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $768.67, for a total transaction of $12,181,113.49. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 515 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $776.38, for a total transaction of $399,835.70. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 25,035 shares of the company's stock, valued at $19,436,673.30. The trade was a 2.02% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 275,024 shares of company stock worth $199,983,159. 13.61% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Meta Platforms Stock Up 1.0%

Shares of NASDAQ META traded up $7.47 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $769.30. 7,308,601 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 13,419,927. 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 stock's 50 day simple moving average is $714.53 and its 200-day simple moving average is $651.01. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a one year low of $479.80 and a one year high of $784.75. The company has a market cap of $1.93 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.85, a P/E/G ratio of 1.58 and a beta of 1.27.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data 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. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 39.99% and a return on equity of 39.33%. The firm had revenue of $47.52 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $44.55 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $5.16 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was up 21.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have commented on META. Moffett Nathanson lifted their target price 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $795.00 to $875.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. HSBC upgraded shares of Meta Platforms from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and lifted their target price for the company from $610.00 to $900.00 in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $812.00 to $897.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, Wedbush upped their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $750.00 to $920.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Four investment 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's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $822.41.

About Meta Platforms

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.