L & S Advisors Inc Boosts Stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

L & S Advisors Inc boosted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 23.2% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 39,651 shares of the social networking company’s stock after purchasing an additional 7,474 shares during the period. Meta Platforms comprises 2.3% of L & S Advisors Inc’s portfolio, making the stock its 6th biggest holding. L & S Advisors Inc’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $19,993,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vantage Financial Partners LLC grew its stake in Meta Platforms by 3.2% during the fourth quarter. Vantage Financial Partners LLC now owns 1,323 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $468,000 after buying an additional 41 shares during the last quarter. Concentrum Wealth Management increased its holdings in Meta Platforms by 111.0% during the 4th quarter. Concentrum Wealth Management now owns 7,391,877 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $2,616,000 after purchasing an additional 3,888,308 shares in the last quarter. Aveo Capital Partners LLC raised its position in Meta Platforms by 45.7% in the 4th quarter. Aveo Capital Partners LLC now owns 2,302 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $815,000 after purchasing an additional 722 shares during the last quarter. 9258 Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in Meta Platforms by 66.4% in the fourth quarter. 9258 Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,993 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $1,413,000 after purchasing an additional 1,594 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Rollins Financial grew its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 7.5% during the fourth quarter. Rollins Financial now owns 30,657 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $10,851,000 after purchasing an additional 2,133 shares during the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on META shares. Roth Mkm lifted their price target on Meta Platforms from $510.00 to $550.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. KeyCorp increased their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $540.00 to $560.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $580.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on Meta Platforms from $565.00 to $600.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their target price on Meta Platforms from $565.00 to $575.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, July 22nd. 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’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $577.26.

Meta Platforms Stock Up 3.9 %

NASDAQ:META opened at $559.10 on Friday. The firm 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. 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, Inc. has a twelve month low of $279.40 and a twelve month high of $562.07. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $505.40 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $496.34.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The social networking company reported $5.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.70 by $0.46. The firm 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%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 22.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $3.23 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 21.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Meta Platforms news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 in the company, valued at $19,848,320.64. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In related news, COO Javier Olivan sold 413 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $536.92, for a total value of $221,747.96. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 14,424 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,744,534.08. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $537.72, for a total transaction of $486,636.60. Following the sale, the insider now owns 36,912 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $19,848,320.64. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 356,426 shares of company stock worth $185,053,425. Company insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

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.