Aire Advisors LLC Grows Stock Position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Aire Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 5.9% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 6,762 shares of the social networking company’s stock after buying an additional 375 shares during the period. Meta Platforms comprises about 0.8% of Aire Advisors LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 29th largest position. Aire Advisors LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $3,410,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. Baird Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in Meta Platforms by 24.2% in the 4th quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 835,972 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $295,901,000 after purchasing an additional 163,067 shares during the last quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System raised its stake in Meta Platforms by 1.5% in the 4th quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 3,576,285 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $1,265,862,000 after purchasing an additional 51,900 shares during the last quarter. Donoghue Forlines LLC raised its stake in Meta Platforms by 94.4% in the 4th quarter. Donoghue Forlines LLC now owns 8,349 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $2,955,000 after purchasing an additional 4,054 shares during the last quarter. Voyager Global Management LP raised its stake in Meta Platforms by 37.3% in the 4th quarter. Voyager Global Management LP now owns 515,000 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $182,289,000 after purchasing an additional 140,000 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management UK Ltd. raised its stake in Meta Platforms by 400.0% in the 4th quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management UK Ltd. now owns 2,500 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $885,000 after purchasing an additional 2,000 shares during the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. TD Securities boosted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $530.00 to $600.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 10th. Guggenheim upped their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $500.00 to $600.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $500.00 to $530.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $575.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, Roth Mkm upped their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $510.00 to $550.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, thirty-three have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $576.66.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

Meta Platforms stock opened at $516.86 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $1.31 trillion, a P/E ratio of 29.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 1.21. The company has a current ratio of 2.83, a quick ratio of 2.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $505.26 and a 200-day moving average of $493.93. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 52 week low of $279.40 and a 52 week high of $544.23.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 31st. The social networking company reported $5.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.70 by $0.46. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 34.16% and a net margin of 34.34%. The firm had revenue of $39.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $38.26 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $3.23 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 22.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 21.3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 26th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 16th will be given a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.39%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is presently 11.49%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Meta Platforms news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 16,702 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $503.18, for a total value of $8,404,112.36. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 301,478 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $151,697,700.04. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 16,702 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $503.18, for a total transaction of $8,404,112.36. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 301,478 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $151,697,700.04. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Susan J. Li sold 8,950 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $526.76, for a total value of $4,714,502.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 74,579 shares in the company, valued at $39,285,234.04. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 390,977 shares of company stock valued at $202,384,548 over the last three months. Company insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

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.