EPIQ Capital Group LLC Grows Stock Position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

EPIQ Capital Group LLC grew its position in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 7.1% during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,182 shares of the social networking company’s stock after purchasing an additional 212 shares during the period. Meta Platforms makes up about 0.6% of EPIQ Capital Group LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 22nd largest position. EPIQ Capital Group LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $1,604,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Sargent Investment Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 6.5% during the second quarter. Sargent Investment Group LLC now owns 1,874 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $945,000 after acquiring an additional 114 shares in the last quarter. DHK Financial Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in Meta Platforms during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $252,000. Primecap Management Co. CA increased its holdings in Meta Platforms by 2.5% during the 2nd quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA now owns 706,450 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $356,206,000 after purchasing an additional 17,225 shares during the last quarter. GDS Wealth Management raised its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 11.5% in the 2nd quarter. GDS Wealth Management now owns 23,107 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $11,651,000 after purchasing an additional 2,391 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Pekin Hardy Strauss Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 5.0% during the 2nd quarter. Pekin Hardy Strauss Inc. now owns 877 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $442,000 after buying an additional 42 shares during the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Meta Platforms

In related news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 9,760 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $502.87, for a total transaction of $4,908,011.20. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 247,915 shares in the company, valued at $124,669,016.05. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other Meta Platforms news, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 5,057 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 15th. The shares were 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 directly owns 11,990 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,315,852.40. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 9,760 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $502.87, for a total transaction of $4,908,011.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 247,915 shares in the company, valued at $124,669,016.05. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 356,426 shares of company stock valued at $185,053,425 in the last quarter. Insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Trading Up 3.9 %

Meta Platforms stock opened at $559.10 on Friday. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12-month low of $279.40 and a 12-month high of $562.07. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.42 trillion, a PE ratio of 32.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 1.21. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $505.40 and a 200-day simple moving average of $496.34. 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 (NASDAQ:META) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The social networking company reported $5.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.70 by $0.46. The company had revenue of $39.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $38.26 billion. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 34.16% and a net margin of 34.34%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 22.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $3.23 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 21.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The firm 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 dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 16th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.36%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 11.49%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $570.00 price target on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. Needham & Company LLC restated an “underperform” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Wednesday, September 4th. Guggenheim increased their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $500.00 to $600.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Susquehanna upped their price objective on Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $600.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, Loop Capital increased their target price on Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $575.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 6th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, thirty-four have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $577.26.

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.