Kendall Capital Management Raises Stock Position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Kendall Capital Management grew its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 2.8% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,753 shares of the social networking company’s stock after buying an additional 47 shares during the quarter. Kendall Capital Management’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $884,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Quest Partners LLC bought a new position in Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter valued at $32,000. Clear Investment Research LLC grew its holdings in 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 purchasing an additional 74 shares during the last quarter. Delos Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in 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 during the period. POM Investment Strategies LLC bought a new stake in Meta Platforms in the second quarter worth about $38,000. Finally, Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 122.2% during the second quarter. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. now owns 80 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $40,000 after buying an additional 44 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

Shares of Meta Platforms stock opened at $561.35 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $507.58 and a 200 day moving average price of $497.22. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.42 trillion, a P/E ratio of 32.24, a PEG ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 1.21. The company has a quick ratio of 2.83, a current ratio of 2.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 52 week low of $279.40 and a 52 week high of $564.50.

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, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.70 by $0.46. The business had revenue of $39.07 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $38.26 billion. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 34.34% and a return on equity of 34.16%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 22.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $3.23 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 21.36 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

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

Insider Transactions at Meta Platforms

In other Meta Platforms news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 9,760 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $502.87, for a total transaction of $4,908,011.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 247,915 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $124,669,016.05. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other Meta Platforms news, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 5,057 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $526.76, for a total value of $2,663,825.32. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief technology officer now directly owns 11,990 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,315,852.40. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 9,760 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $502.87, for a total transaction of $4,908,011.20. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 247,915 shares in the company, valued at approximately $124,669,016.05. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 356,426 shares of company stock worth $185,053,425 over the last three months. 13.71% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on META shares. Sanford C. Bernstein raised their price target on Meta Platforms from $565.00 to $575.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, July 22nd. TD Securities lifted their target price on Meta Platforms from $530.00 to $600.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 10th. Bank of America boosted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $563.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Wolfe Research started coverage on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Tuesday, July 16th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $620.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $525.00 to $585.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, thirty-four have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $577.26.

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.