Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) Shares Bought by Russell Investments Group Ltd.

Key Points

• Russell Investments Group Ltd. increased its stake in Meta Platforms, acquiring an additional 68,540 shares, bringing their total holdings to approximately $1.55 billion, which makes Meta their 5th largest position.
• Several institutional investors, including Brighton Jones LLC and Revolve Wealth Partners LLC, also raised their stakes in Meta Platforms in the recent quarter, highlighting growing interest from institutional investors.
• Meta Platforms reported earnings of $7.14 per share for the last quarter, significantly surpassing analysts' estimates, while shares of the company currently have a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $822.41.

Russell Investments Group Ltd. grew its stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 2.6% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 2,690,137 shares of the social networking company's stock after purchasing an additional 68,540 shares during the period. Meta Platforms comprises about 2.1% of Russell Investments Group Ltd.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 5th biggest position. Russell Investments Group Ltd. owned about 0.11% of Meta Platforms worth $1,550,569,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of META. Inlight Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Meta Platforms during the 1st quarter valued at about $25,000. Barnes Dennig Private Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Meta Platforms during the 1st quarter valued at about $28,000. MJT & Associates Financial Advisory Group Inc. bought a new position in Meta Platforms during the 1st quarter valued at about $33,000. Marshall & Sterling Wealth Advisors Inc. bought a new position in Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter valued at about $45,000. Finally, JCIC Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 102.6% during 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 during the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

META has been the subject of several analyst reports. Wedbush lifted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $750.00 to $920.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Moffett Nathanson lifted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $525.00 to $605.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Scotiabank lifted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $675.00 to $685.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Hsbc Global Res raised shares of Meta Platforms from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $795.00 to $875.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty-nine have assigned a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $822.41.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 15,847 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $753.43, for a total value of $11,939,605.21. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Christopher K. Cox sold 60,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the insider owned 237,205 shares of the company's stock, valued at $184,059,219.75. This trade represents a 20.19% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 269,243 shares of company stock valued at $200,605,051. Corporate insiders own 13.61% of the company's stock.

Meta Platforms Trading Up 0.4%

NASDAQ META traded up $3.10 during trading on Friday, reaching $785.23. 13,361,371 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 12,931,265. 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 1.63 and a beta of 1.27. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $724.43 and its 200 day moving average price is $655.43. 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 fifty-two week low of $479.80 and a fifty-two week high of $796.25.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last issued 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. The firm had revenue of $47.52 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $44.55 billion. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 39.99% and a return on equity of 39.33%. The business'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 earned $5.16 earnings per share. Analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 26th. Investors of record on Monday, June 16th were issued a dividend of $0.525 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 16th. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a 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.