SouthState Corp Grows Position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

SouthState Corp boosted its stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 13.7% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 17,682 shares of the social networking company's stock after purchasing an additional 2,128 shares during the quarter. SouthState Corp's holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $10,191,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Inlight Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the first quarter worth $25,000. Barnes Dennig Private Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the first quarter worth $28,000. MJT & Associates Financial Advisory Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the first quarter worth $33,000. Marshall & Sterling Wealth Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter worth $45,000. Finally, JCIC Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 102.6% during the first quarter. JCIC Asset Management Inc. now owns 79 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $46,000 after purchasing an additional 40 shares in the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Meta Platforms

In other news, insider Christopher K. Cox sold 15,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 completion of 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 517 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $770.00, for a total value of $398,090.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 4,751 shares in the company, valued at $3,658,270. This represents a 9.81% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 292,211 shares of company stock valued at $215,232,155 over the last ninety days. 13.61% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

META has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Guggenheim reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $800.00 price target (up from $725.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Monday, July 28th. Benchmark upped their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $800.00 to $890.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. DA Davidson upped their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $650.00 to $825.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Canaccord Genuity Group upped their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $825.00 to $850.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 16th. Finally, Piper Sandler upped their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $808.00 to $880.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report 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 issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $822.41.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

NASDAQ META opened at $780.08 on Thursday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $720.73 and a 200-day simple moving average of $653.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a current ratio of 1.97 and a quick ratio of 1.97. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.96 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.64 and a beta of 1.27. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 52-week low of $479.80 and a 52-week high of $795.46.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The social networking company reported $7.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $5.75 by $1.39. The business had revenue of $47.52 billion during 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 revenue was up 21.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $5.16 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

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

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.

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