GDS Wealth Management Buys 2,391 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

GDS Wealth Management lifted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 11.5% during the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 23,107 shares of the social networking company’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,391 shares during the quarter. GDS Wealth Management’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $11,651,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Pekin Hardy Strauss Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 5.0% in the second 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 in the last quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc. boosted its stake in Meta Platforms by 2.1% during the 2nd quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc. now owns 33,251 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $16,766,000 after purchasing an additional 684 shares during the last quarter. Excalibur Management Corp increased its holdings in Meta Platforms by 1.5% during the 2nd quarter. Excalibur Management Corp now owns 9,532 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $4,806,000 after purchasing an additional 145 shares in the last quarter. Luts & Greenleigh Group Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the second quarter worth approximately $609,000. Finally, Delta Accumulation LLC bought a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the second quarter valued at approximately $1,335,000. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

Shares of META opened at $559.10 on Friday. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 52-week low of $279.40 and a 52-week high of $562.07. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $505.40 and its 200 day simple moving average is $496.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a quick ratio of 2.83 and a current ratio of 2.83. The stock has a market capitalization 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 (NASDAQ:META) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The social networking company reported $5.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.70 by $0.46. The firm had revenue of $39.07 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $38.26 billion. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 34.34% and a return on equity of 34.16%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 22.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $3.23 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast 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. Investors of record on Monday, September 16th will be paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.36%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 16th. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is 11.49%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

META has been the subject of several recent research reports. Evercore ISI upped their price target on Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $600.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $570.00 target price on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. Raymond James boosted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $600.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, July 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 research report on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, TD Securities lifted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $530.00 to $600.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 10th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating, thirty-four have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $577.26.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Meta Platforms news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $537.72, for a total value of $486,636.60. Following the sale, the insider now owns 36,912 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $19,848,320.64. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $537.72, for a total value of $486,636.60. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 36,912 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $19,848,320.64. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 412 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $463.00, for a total transaction of $190,756.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 5,559 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,573,817. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 356,426 shares of company stock worth $185,053,425 over the last ninety days. 13.71% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.