Pacer Advisors Inc. Increases Stock Holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Pacer Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 5.9% during the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 265,756 shares of the social networking company’s stock after purchasing an additional 14,831 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $133,999,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Delos Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Meta Platforms by 527.3% during the 1st quarter. Delos Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 69 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 58 shares during the period. POM Investment Strategies LLC acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the second quarter worth about $38,000. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 122.2% during the second quarter. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. now owns 80 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $40,000 after buying an additional 44 shares during the period. Richardson Financial Services Inc. raised its holdings in Meta Platforms by 95.6% in the first quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. now owns 88 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $41,000 after acquiring an additional 43 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Quest Partners LLC purchased a new position in Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter worth approximately $32,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Trading Up 0.4 %

Shares of META stock opened at $561.35 on Monday. The stock 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. 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 fifty-two week low of $279.40 and a fifty-two week high of $564.50. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $507.58 and a 200-day simple moving average of $497.27.

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, beating the consensus estimate of $4.70 by $0.46. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 34.34% and a return on equity of 34.16%. The firm had revenue of $39.07 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $38.26 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $3.23 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 22.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 21.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Meta Platforms news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owns 36,912 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,848,320.64. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other Meta Platforms news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 16,702 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 230,461 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $117,737,915.68. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 36,912 shares in the company, valued at $19,848,320.64. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 346,666 shares of company stock valued at $180,145,414. Corporate insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

META has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $580.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Meta Platforms from $625.00 to $647.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Truist Financial increased their price objective on Meta Platforms from $535.00 to $570.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Needham & Company LLC restated an “underperform” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Wednesday, September 4th. Finally, Guggenheim increased their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $500.00 to $600.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, thirty-four have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently 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.