Advisory Alpha LLC Has $2.17 Million Position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Advisory Alpha LLC lifted its position in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 30.4% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 4,294 shares of the social networking company’s stock after buying an additional 1,002 shares during the period. Advisory Alpha LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $2,165,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.4% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 187,180,393 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $90,891,055,000 after buying an additional 831,047 shares during the period. Capital World Investors raised its holdings in Meta Platforms by 0.6% during the first quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 38,299,316 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $18,597,382,000 after acquiring an additional 244,803 shares in the last quarter. Capital International Investors raised its holdings in Meta Platforms by 3.2% during the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 34,738,470 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $12,296,383,000 after acquiring an additional 1,083,719 shares in the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors raised its holdings in Meta Platforms by 14.5% during the first quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 34,597,001 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $16,799,612,000 after acquiring an additional 4,379,826 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jennison Associates LLC raised 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 acquiring an additional 2,748,620 shares in the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Meta Platforms Trading Up 0.9 %

Shares of META stock opened at $572.44 on Tuesday. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $517.89 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $500.20. The company has a market cap of $1.45 trillion, a PE ratio of 32.88, a P/E/G ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 1.21. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $279.40 and a fifty-two week high of $577.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a quick ratio of 2.83 and a current ratio of 2.83.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last issued its earnings results 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. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 34.16% and a net margin of 34.34%. The firm had revenue of $39.07 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $38.26 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $3.23 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 22.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 21.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 26th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 16th were paid a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.35%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 16th. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is 11.49%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently issued reports on META shares. Evercore ISI upped their target price on Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $600.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Truist Financial upped their target price on Meta Platforms from $535.00 to $570.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. KeyCorp upped their price objective on 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 upped their price objective on Meta Platforms from $530.00 to $605.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 26th. Finally, Oppenheimer upped their price objective on Meta Platforms from $525.00 to $615.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Two research 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 given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $593.28.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 901 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $451.15, for a total transaction of $406,486.15. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 33,324 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $15,034,122.60. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 901 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $451.15, for a total transaction of $406,486.15. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 33,324 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $15,034,122.60. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 16,702 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $509.10, for a total value of $8,502,988.20. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 186,826 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $95,113,116.60. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 324,751 shares of company stock valued at $170,575,643 in the last three months. Insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Company 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.