O Neil Global Advisors Inc. Buys Shares of 46,255 Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

O Neil Global Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund bought 46,255 shares of the social networking company’s stock, valued at approximately $23,323,000. Meta Platforms comprises approximately 11.0% of O Neil Global Advisors Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 2nd largest holding.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in META. S.A. Mason LLC boosted its position in Meta Platforms by 1.5% in the first quarter. S.A. Mason LLC now owns 1,328 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $645,000 after buying an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. Horizon Bancorp Inc. IN boosted its position in Meta Platforms by 2.0% in the first quarter. Horizon Bancorp Inc. IN now owns 1,057 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $513,000 after buying an additional 21 shares in the last quarter. Northern Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in Meta Platforms by 3.4% in the first quarter. Northern Capital Management Inc. now owns 647 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $314,000 after buying an additional 21 shares in the last quarter. Buckingham Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in Meta Platforms by 5.1% in the second quarter. Buckingham Capital Management Inc. now owns 433 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $218,000 after buying an additional 21 shares in the last quarter. Finally, LongView Wealth Management lifted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.3% during the first quarter. LongView Wealth Management now owns 1,762 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $856,000 after purchasing an additional 22 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. TD Securities lifted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $530.00 to $600.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 10th. Loop Capital lifted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $575.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 6th. KeyCorp lifted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $540.00 to $560.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Cantor Fitzgerald began coverage on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday, September 5th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $660.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $520.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating, thirty-four have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $577.26.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $507.63, for a total transaction of $459,405.15. Following the sale, the insider now owns 37,817 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $19,197,043.71. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, Director Peggy Alford sold 1,052 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $479.00, for a total value of $503,908.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 6,168 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,954,472. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $507.63, for a total transaction of $459,405.15. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 37,817 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,197,043.71. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 357,574 shares of company stock valued at $185,587,773. Company insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Stock Up 1.7 %

META opened at $533.28 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $1.35 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.63, a PEG ratio of 1.26 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. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $505.21 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $495.81. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a twelve month low of $279.40 and a twelve month high of $544.23.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The social networking company reported $5.16 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.70 by $0.46. The business had revenue of $39.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $38.26 billion. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 34.34% and a return on equity of 34.16%. Meta Platforms’s revenue was up 22.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $3.23 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 21.36 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

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

Meta Platforms Company 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.