Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) Shares Acquired by King Luther Capital Management Corp

King Luther Capital Management Corp boosted its stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 68.5% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 99,633 shares of the social networking company’s stock after buying an additional 40,504 shares during the period. King Luther Capital Management Corp’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $50,237,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Elite Wealth Management Inc. raised its position in Meta Platforms by 16.8% in the second quarter. Elite Wealth Management Inc. now owns 27,736 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $13,985,000 after purchasing an additional 3,981 shares during the period. Simplify Asset Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the second quarter valued at $266,000. Beaton Management Co. Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.9% in the 2nd quarter. Beaton Management Co. Inc. now owns 9,290 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $4,684,000 after buying an additional 82 shares during the period. Bridges Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in Meta Platforms by 94.4% during the 2nd quarter. Bridges Investment Management Inc. now owns 174,142 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $87,806,000 after acquiring an additional 84,581 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Callan Capital LLC boosted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 9.0% during the 2nd quarter. Callan Capital LLC now owns 4,834 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $2,437,000 after acquiring an additional 398 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 16,702 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $510.88, for a total transaction of $8,532,717.76. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 230,461 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $117,737,915.68. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 16,702 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $510.88, for a total transaction of $8,532,717.76. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 230,461 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $117,737,915.68. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 412 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $514.41, for a total value of $211,936.92. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 7,207 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,707,352.87. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 346,666 shares of company stock valued at $180,145,414 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

NASDAQ META opened at $561.35 on Monday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $507.58 and its 200 day moving average price is $497.27. 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 firm has a market cap of $1.42 trillion, a P/E ratio of 32.24, a P/E/G ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 1.21. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 52-week low of $279.40 and a 52-week high of $564.50.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The social networking company reported $5.16 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $38.26 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $3.23 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 22.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 21.36 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 26th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 16th will be paid a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.36%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 16th. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 11.49%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently commented on META. KeyCorp raised their price objective 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. Robert W. Baird raised their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $500.00 to $530.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Benchmark reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $570.00 target price on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on Meta Platforms from $522.00 to $555.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, thirty-four have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Meta Platforms has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price 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.