Meridian Wealth Partners LLC Buys 182 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Meridian Wealth Partners LLC increased its stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 6.7% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 2,882 shares of the social networking company’s stock after purchasing an additional 182 shares during the period. Meridian Wealth Partners LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $1,453,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Capital Research Global Investors grew its holdings in Meta Platforms by 17.2% during the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 30,217,175 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $10,695,722,000 after acquiring an additional 4,440,229 shares during the period. Concentrum Wealth Management lifted its stake in Meta Platforms by 111.0% in the fourth quarter. Concentrum Wealth Management now owns 7,391,877 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $2,616,000 after buying an additional 3,888,308 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Meta Platforms by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 186,349,346 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $65,960,215,000 after buying an additional 3,104,550 shares during the period. Jennison Associates LLC boosted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 24.7% during the first quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 13,867,398 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $6,733,731,000 after buying an additional 2,748,620 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sustainable Growth Advisers LP acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the 2nd quarter worth about $595,152,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ META opened at $561.35 on Friday. 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 business’s 50 day moving average price is $506.33 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $496.78. The company has a market cap of $1.42 trillion, a PE ratio of 32.24, 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 $564.50.

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. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 34.16% and a net margin of 34.34%. The business had revenue of $39.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $38.26 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $3.23 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 22.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 21.36 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

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 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.36%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is currently 11.49%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 150 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $500.49, for a total value of $75,073.50. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 124,387 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $62,254,449.63. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $496.99, for a total transaction of $449,775.95. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 38,750 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $19,258,362.50. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 150 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $500.49, for a total transaction of $75,073.50. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 124,387 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $62,254,449.63. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 356,426 shares of company stock worth $185,053,425 over the last three months. Insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently weighed in on META shares. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target 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. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $525.00 to $585.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on Meta Platforms from $522.00 to $555.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, UBS Group boosted their target price on Meta Platforms from $630.00 to $635.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, thirty-four have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average 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.