Sargent Investment Group LLC Boosts Position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Sargent Investment Group LLC boosted its position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 6.5% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 1,874 shares of the social networking company’s stock after purchasing an additional 114 shares during the period. Sargent Investment Group LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $945,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Quest Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Clear Investment Research LLC grew its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 411.1% during the 4th quarter. Clear Investment Research LLC now owns 92 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 74 shares during the period. Delos Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 527.3% in 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 in the last quarter. POM Investment Strategies LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the 2nd quarter worth $38,000. Finally, Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. raised its holdings in Meta Platforms by 122.2% in the 2nd quarter. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. now owns 80 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $40,000 after purchasing an additional 44 shares during the period. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have commented on the company. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Meta Platforms from $625.00 to $647.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $500.00 to $530.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $630.00 to $635.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. KeyCorp increased their price target on Meta Platforms from $540.00 to $560.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, JMP Securities restated a “market outperform” rating and issued a $525.00 price objective on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Tuesday, July 30th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, thirty-four have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $577.26.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

Meta Platforms stock opened at $559.10 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $1.42 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 1.21. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $505.40 and a two-hundred day moving average of $496.34. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1 year low of $279.40 and a 1 year high of $562.07. 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 announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 31st. The social networking company reported $5.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.70 by $0.46. The company had revenue of $39.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $38.26 billion. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 34.16% and a net margin of 34.34%. Meta Platforms’s revenue was up 22.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $3.23 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 21.36 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Meta Platforms news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 901 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $451.15, for a total value of $406,486.15. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 33,324 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $15,034,122.60. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, COO Javier Olivan sold 413 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $520.57, for a total transaction of $214,995.41. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 13,185 shares in the company, valued at $6,863,715.45. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 901 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $451.15, for a total transaction of $406,486.15. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 33,324 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $15,034,122.60. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 356,426 shares of company stock worth $185,053,425 in the last 90 days. 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.