SSA Swiss Advisors AG Makes New Investment in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Key Points

• SSA Swiss Advisors AG made a new investment of approximately $2.83 million in Meta Platforms, acquiring 4,900 shares during the first quarter.
• Insider activity was notable as CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 13,793 shares, reducing his stake by 10.44% and bringing his total ownership to 118,279 shares.
• Analysts have increased their price targets for Meta Platforms, with HSBC raising its target from $610.00 to $900.00, suggesting strong bullish sentiment towards the company.

SSA Swiss Advisors AG acquired a new position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 4,900 shares of the social networking company's stock, valued at approximately $2,825,000.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Valley Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 2.4% in the 4th quarter. Valley Financial Group Inc. now owns 588 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $344,000 after buying an additional 14 shares during the period. Lantern Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Lantern Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,976 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $1,743,000 after buying an additional 14 shares during the period. ABLE Financial Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. ABLE Financial Group LLC now owns 2,136 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $1,251,000 after buying an additional 15 shares during the period. Mosaic Family Wealth Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. Mosaic Family Wealth Partners LLC now owns 1,435 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $840,000 after buying an additional 17 shares during the period. Finally, Orin Green Financial LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 2.2% in the 4th quarter. Orin Green Financial LLC now owns 795 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $465,000 after buying an additional 17 shares during the period. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

Shares of META stock traded down $8.30 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $768.07. The company had a trading volume of 3,441,751 shares, compared to its average volume of 15,569,142. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a quick ratio of 1.97 and a current ratio of 1.97. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $704.66 and a 200-day moving average of $647.27. The company has a market capitalization of $1.93 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.85, a PEG ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 1.27. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12-month low of $478.65 and a 12-month high of $784.75.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 30th. The social networking company reported $7.14 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $5.75 by $1.39. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 39.33% and a net margin of 39.99%. The firm had revenue of $47.52 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $44.55 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $5.16 earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 21.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 26th. Investors 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.3%. Meta Platforms's dividend payout ratio is currently 7.60%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 15,847 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 1st. The stock was 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 SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 22,449 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, May 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $636.85, for a total value of $14,296,645.65. Following the transaction, the chief technology officer owned 1,183 shares in the company, valued at $753,393.55. This trade represents a 94.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 167,298 shares of company stock worth $116,742,790 over the last quarter. 13.61% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Raymond James Financial boosted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $750.00 to $900.00 and gave the company a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Canaccord Genuity Group boosted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $825.00 to $850.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 16th. Truist Financial boosted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $700.00 to $720.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Cantor Fitzgerald boosted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $828.00 to $920.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, Monness Crespi & Hardt boosted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $780.00 to $860.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Four equities 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $820.32.

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.