Bahl & Gaynor Inc. Has $4.35 Million Stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Bahl & Gaynor Inc. boosted its position in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 17.1% during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 8,617 shares of the social networking company’s stock after buying an additional 1,260 shares during the period. Bahl & Gaynor Inc.’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $4,345,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of META. Baird Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 24.2% in the 4th quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 835,972 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $295,901,000 after purchasing an additional 163,067 shares in the last quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System boosted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.5% in the 4th quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 3,576,285 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $1,265,862,000 after purchasing an additional 51,900 shares in the last quarter. Voyager Global Management LP boosted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 37.3% in the 4th quarter. Voyager Global Management LP now owns 515,000 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $182,289,000 after purchasing an additional 140,000 shares in the last quarter. Gradient Investments LLC boosted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 8.9% in the 2nd quarter. Gradient Investments LLC now owns 72,587 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $36,600,000 after purchasing an additional 5,953 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Baillie Gifford & Co. boosted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 14.0% in the 1st quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. now owns 6,101,501 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $2,962,767,000 after purchasing an additional 748,076 shares in the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

NASDAQ META opened at $524.62 on Friday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $505.13 and a 200 day simple moving average of $495.43. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12-month low of $279.40 and a 12-month high of $544.23. The company has a current ratio of 2.83, a quick ratio of 2.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. The company has a market cap of $1.33 trillion, a P/E ratio of 30.13, a PEG ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 1.21.

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

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed 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 0.38%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 16th. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is 11.49%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $522.00 to $555.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. JMP Securities reiterated a “market outperform” rating and set a $525.00 target price on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Tuesday, July 30th. Oppenheimer lifted their target price 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. Needham & Company LLC reiterated an “underperform” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Wednesday, September 4th. Finally, TD Securities lifted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $530.00 to $600.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 10th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating, thirty-four have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $577.26.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Meta Platforms news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $496.99, for a total transaction of $449,775.95. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 38,750 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $19,258,362.50. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Meta Platforms news, COO Javier Olivan sold 413 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction on Friday, September 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $522.00, for a total transaction of $215,586.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 13,598 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,098,156. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $496.99, for a total transaction of $449,775.95. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 38,750 shares in the company, valued at $19,258,362.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 357,574 shares of company stock valued at $185,587,773 in the last three months. 13.71% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.