Wealthgarden F.S. LLC Buys Shares of 2,487 Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Wealthgarden F.S. LLC purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) in the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 2,487 shares of the social networking company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,254,000. Meta Platforms makes up about 1.3% of Wealthgarden F.S. LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 21st biggest holding.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Wambolt & Associates LLC grew its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.1% during the second quarter. Wambolt & Associates LLC now owns 2,779 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $1,403,000 after buying an additional 30 shares in the last quarter. Altman Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 17.3% during the second quarter. Altman Advisors Inc. now owns 6,661 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $3,359,000 after buying an additional 980 shares in the last quarter. Idaho Trust Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the second quarter worth about $278,000. Beverly Hills Private Wealth LLC grew its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 21.9% during the second quarter. Beverly Hills Private Wealth LLC now owns 9,025 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $4,551,000 after buying an additional 1,622 shares in the last quarter. Finally, PFG Advisors boosted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 8.6% in the second quarter. PFG Advisors now owns 8,417 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $4,244,000 after acquiring an additional 667 shares during the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $480.00 to $610.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $520.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Piper Sandler raised their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $545.00 to $575.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Benchmark reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. Finally, Oppenheimer raised their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $525.00 to $615.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, thirty-four have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $577.26.

Insider Transactions at Meta Platforms

In other news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $507.63, for a total transaction of $459,405.15. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 37,817 shares in the company, valued at $19,197,043.71. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 2,054 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $501.05, for a total transaction of $1,029,156.70. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 253,000 shares in the company, valued at $126,765,650. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $507.63, for a total transaction of $459,405.15. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 37,817 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $19,197,043.71. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 357,574 shares of company stock worth $185,587,773. Insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Stock Down 0.2 %

META stock opened at $524.62 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a current ratio of 2.83 and a quick ratio of 2.83. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1-year low of $279.40 and a 1-year high of $544.23. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $505.13 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $495.51. The firm has a market cap of $1.33 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.13, a PEG ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 1.21.

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

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The firm 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 dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 16th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.38%. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is 11.49%.

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.