Sugarloaf Wealth Management LLC Increases Stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Sugarloaf Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 18.3% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 485 shares of the social networking company’s stock after purchasing an additional 75 shares during the period. Sugarloaf Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $278,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Central Valley Advisors LLC increased its stake in Meta Platforms by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. Central Valley Advisors LLC now owns 5,714 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $3,271,000 after purchasing an additional 18 shares during the period. S.A. Mason LLC increased its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.5% during the first quarter. S.A. Mason LLC now owns 1,328 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $645,000 after buying an additional 20 shares during the period. Front Row Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 5.7% during the second quarter. Front Row Advisors LLC now owns 371 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $187,000 after buying an additional 20 shares during the period. Horizon Bancorp Inc. IN increased its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 2.0% during the first quarter. Horizon Bancorp Inc. IN now owns 1,057 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $513,000 after buying an additional 21 shares during the period. Finally, Northern Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 3.4% during the first quarter. Northern Capital Management Inc. now owns 647 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $314,000 after buying an additional 21 shares during the period. 79.91% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Meta Platforms

In related news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 901 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $451.15, for a total transaction of $406,486.15. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 33,324 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $15,034,122.60. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other Meta Platforms news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 901 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $451.15, for a total transaction of $406,486.15. Following the sale, the insider now owns 33,324 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,034,122.60. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 16,702 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $533.87, for a total value of $8,916,696.74. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 151,918 shares in the company, valued at approximately $81,104,462.66. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 282,621 shares of company stock valued at $148,657,449 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Stock Up 0.8 %

Shares of META traded up $4.51 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $589.29. The company had a trading volume of 3,182,951 shares, compared to its average volume of 15,442,146. The company has a market capitalization of $1.49 trillion, a PE ratio of 33.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 1.22. The company has a current ratio of 2.83, a quick ratio of 2.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a one year low of $279.40 and a one year high of $602.95. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $529.45 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $503.17.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The social networking company reported $5.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 company had revenue of $39.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $38.26 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $3.23 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 22.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 21.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 26th. Investors of record on Monday, September 16th were given a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.34%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 16th. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is currently 11.49%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

META has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Tigress Financial boosted their target price on Meta Platforms from $575.00 to $645.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Meta Platforms from $610.00 to $640.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 26th. BMO Capital Markets reissued a “market perform” rating and issued a $450.00 target price on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Wednesday, June 12th. Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $600.00 target price on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday, September 26th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $660.00 price target on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Monday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, thirty-five have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Meta Platforms presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $601.08.

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.