VitalStone Financial LLC Purchases 50 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

VitalStone Financial LLC grew its position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 5.9% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 893 shares of the social networking company’s stock after purchasing an additional 50 shares during the quarter. VitalStone Financial LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $450,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Marco Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in Meta Platforms by 1.1% during the second quarter. Marco Investment Management LLC now owns 11,528 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $5,813,000 after acquiring an additional 127 shares in the last quarter. Greenwood Gearhart Inc. boosted its stake in Meta Platforms by 0.8% during the second quarter. Greenwood Gearhart Inc. now owns 25,600 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $12,908,000 after acquiring an additional 207 shares in the last quarter. Biltmore Family Office LLC boosted its stake in Meta Platforms by 1.8% during the second quarter. Biltmore Family Office LLC now owns 2,945 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $1,485,000 after acquiring an additional 52 shares in the last quarter. AGF Management Ltd. boosted its stake in Meta Platforms by 20.7% during the second quarter. AGF Management Ltd. now owns 9,503 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $4,792,000 after acquiring an additional 1,627 shares in the last quarter. Finally, South Street Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Meta Platforms by 74.5% during the second quarter. South Street Advisors LLC now owns 28,967 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $14,606,000 after acquiring an additional 12,370 shares in the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently issued reports on META. UBS Group increased their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $630.00 to $635.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $565.00 to $600.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $520.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $600.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, Bank of America upped their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $563.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, thirty-four have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $577.26.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:META opened at $524.62 on Friday. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $505.13 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $495.43. 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 twelve month low of $279.40 and a twelve month high of $544.23. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.33 trillion, a PE ratio of 30.13, a P/E/G ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 1.21.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 31st. The social networking company reported $5.16 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.70 by $0.46. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 34.34% and a return on equity of 34.16%. The company had revenue of $39.07 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $38.26 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $3.23 earnings per share. Meta Platforms’s revenue was up 22.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 21.36 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 26th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 16th will be given a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 16th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.38%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 11.49%.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $496.99, for a total value of $449,775.95. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 38,750 shares in the company, valued at $19,258,362.50. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, COO Javier Olivan sold 413 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $522.00, for a total value of $215,586.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 13,598 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,098,156. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $496.99, for a total transaction of $449,775.95. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 38,750 shares in the company, valued at $19,258,362.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 357,574 shares of company stock worth $185,587,773. 13.71% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.