Clearstead Trust LLC Raises Stock Holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Clearstead Trust LLC boosted its stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 12.1% during the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 2,217 shares of the social networking company’s stock after purchasing an additional 239 shares during the quarter. Clearstead Trust LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $1,118,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. S.A. Mason LLC boosted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.5% in the 1st quarter. S.A. Mason LLC now owns 1,328 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $645,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. Horizon Bancorp Inc. IN boosted its holdings 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 worth $513,000 after acquiring an additional 21 shares in the last quarter. Northern Capital Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 3.4% in the first quarter. Northern Capital Management Inc. now owns 647 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $314,000 after acquiring an additional 21 shares during the last quarter. Buckingham Capital Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 5.1% during the second quarter. Buckingham Capital Management Inc. now owns 433 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $218,000 after acquiring an additional 21 shares in the last quarter. Finally, LongView Wealth Management raised its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.3% in the 1st 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 last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

NASDAQ META opened at $559.10 on Friday. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $505.40 and a 200-day moving average price of $496.34. The firm has a market cap of $1.42 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 1.21. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a twelve month low of $279.40 and a twelve month high of $562.07. 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 (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, 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 business had revenue of $39.07 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $38.26 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $3.23 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 22.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 21.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 26th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 16th will be issued a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 16th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.36%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is currently 11.49%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently commented on META shares. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $590.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $570.00 price target on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. Guggenheim upped their price objective on Meta Platforms from $500.00 to $600.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Susquehanna lifted their target price on Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $600.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price target on Meta Platforms from $525.00 to $585.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, thirty-four have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $577.26.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 5,057 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $526.76, for a total value of $2,663,825.32. Following the sale, the chief technology officer now directly owns 11,990 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,315,852.40. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 901 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $451.15, for a total transaction of $406,486.15. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 33,324 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,034,122.60. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 5,057 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $526.76, for a total transaction of $2,663,825.32. Following the completion of the sale, the chief technology officer now owns 11,990 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,315,852.40. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 356,426 shares of company stock worth $185,053,425 in the last 90 days. 13.71% of the stock is currently owned by corporate 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.