Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) Shares Acquired by Cyrus J. Lawrence LLC

Cyrus J. Lawrence LLC raised its stake in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 28.3% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 42,667 shares of the social networking company’s stock after buying an additional 9,417 shares during the period. Meta Platforms makes up 4.4% of Cyrus J. Lawrence LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 4th biggest position. Cyrus J. Lawrence LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $21,513,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in META. Vantage Financial Partners LLC raised its position in Meta Platforms by 3.2% in the fourth quarter. Vantage Financial Partners LLC now owns 1,323 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $468,000 after acquiring an additional 41 shares in the last quarter. Concentrum Wealth Management boosted its position in shares of 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 grew its stake in shares of 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 worth $815,000 after purchasing an additional 722 shares during the last quarter. 9258 Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 66.4% in the 4th 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 lifted its stake in Meta Platforms by 7.5% during the fourth quarter. Rollins Financial now owns 30,657 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $10,851,000 after purchasing an additional 2,133 shares during the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Meta Platforms

In other Meta Platforms news, insider Christopher K. Cox sold 20,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $557.52, for a total transaction of $11,150,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 338,662 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $188,810,838.24. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other Meta Platforms news, 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 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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Christopher K. Cox sold 20,000 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $557.52, for a total value of $11,150,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 338,662 shares in the company, valued at $188,810,838.24. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 365,761 shares of company stock worth $190,846,038. 13.71% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

META has been the topic of several recent research reports. Oppenheimer lifted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $525.00 to $615.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their target price on Meta Platforms from $525.00 to $585.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Raymond James lifted their price target on Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $600.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, July 1st. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $565.00 to $600.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $660.00 target price on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Monday. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, thirty-four have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $578.92.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

NASDAQ META opened at $564.41 on Tuesday. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $279.40 and a fifty-two week high of $573.98. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $507.58 and its two-hundred day moving average is $497.28. The firm has a market cap of $1.43 trillion, a P/E ratio of 32.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 1.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a current ratio of 2.83 and a quick ratio of 2.83.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 31st. The social networking company reported $5.16 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.70 by $0.46. The business had revenue of $39.07 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $38.26 billion. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 34.16% and a net margin of 34.34%. The firm’s revenue was up 22.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $3.23 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 21.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 26th. Investors of record on Monday, September 16th will be issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.35%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 16th. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is currently 11.49%.

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.