Willis Johnson & Associates Inc. Raises Stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Willis Johnson & Associates Inc. raised its stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 15.3% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,228 shares of the social networking company’s stock after buying an additional 163 shares during the quarter. Willis Johnson & Associates Inc.’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $619,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter worth $11,285,855,000. Capital Research Global Investors grew its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 17.2% during the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 30,217,175 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $10,695,722,000 after purchasing an additional 4,440,229 shares during the period. Concentrum Wealth Management grew its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 111.0% during the 4th quarter. Concentrum Wealth Management now owns 7,391,877 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $2,616,000 after purchasing an additional 3,888,308 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 186,349,346 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $65,960,215,000 after purchasing an additional 3,104,550 shares during the period. Finally, Jennison Associates LLC grew its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 24.7% during the 1st quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 13,867,398 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $6,733,731,000 after purchasing an additional 2,748,620 shares during the period. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Meta Platforms Trading Up 0.8 %

NASDAQ:META opened at $516.86 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $505.26 and its 200 day moving average price is $493.93. The company has a market capitalization of $1.31 trillion, a PE ratio of 29.69, a P/E/G ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 1.21. The company has a quick ratio of 2.83, a current ratio of 2.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 52-week low of $279.40 and a 52-week high of $544.23.

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

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

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 paid a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.39%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 11.49%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Meta Platforms

In other Meta Platforms news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 901 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $451.15, for a total value of $406,486.15. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 33,324 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,034,122.60. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other Meta Platforms news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 150 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $500.49, for a total value of $75,073.50. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 124,387 shares in the company, valued at approximately $62,254,449.63. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 901 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $451.15, for a total value of $406,486.15. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 33,324 shares in the company, valued at $15,034,122.60. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 390,977 shares of company stock worth $202,384,548. 13.71% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Needham & Company LLC reiterated an “underperform” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Wednesday. Raymond James raised their target price on Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $600.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, July 1st. Cantor Fitzgerald started coverage on Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday. They set an “overweight” rating and a $660.00 target price for the company. Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and set a $570.00 target price on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. Finally, Tigress Financial raised their target price on Meta Platforms from $575.00 to $645.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 16th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, thirty-three have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $576.66.

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.