Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. Acquires 2,608 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 9.1% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 31,219 shares of the social networking company’s stock after buying an additional 2,608 shares during the quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc.’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $15,741,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Brighton Jones LLC grew its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 8.8% in the 2nd quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 40,351 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $20,346,000 after buying an additional 3,276 shares during the period. Intech Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 10.3% in the second quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 546,791 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $275,703,000 after acquiring an additional 51,112 shares in the last quarter. ProVise Management Group LLC grew its stake in Meta Platforms by 6.0% in the second quarter. ProVise Management Group LLC now owns 7,371 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $3,717,000 after acquiring an additional 418 shares during the period. Austin Asset Management Co Inc increased its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.6% during the second quarter. Austin Asset Management Co Inc now owns 1,571 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $792,000 after acquiring an additional 24 shares in the last quarter. Finally, MQS Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the second quarter worth approximately $232,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Meta Platforms

In other Meta Platforms news, CFO Susan J. Li sold 33,018 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $517.94, for a total value of $17,101,342.92. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 9,760 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, June 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $502.87, for a total value of $4,908,011.20. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 247,915 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $124,669,016.05. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CFO Susan J. Li sold 33,018 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $517.94, for a total transaction of $17,101,342.92. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 356,426 shares of company stock valued at $185,053,425. Company insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

Shares of META opened at $561.35 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a quick ratio of 2.83 and a current ratio of 2.83. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.42 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 1.21. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 52-week low of $279.40 and a 52-week high of $564.50. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $507.58 and its 200 day simple moving average is $497.22.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 31st. The social networking company reported $5.16 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 company had revenue of $39.07 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $38.26 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $3.23 earnings per share. Meta Platforms’s revenue for the quarter was up 22.1% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 21.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have commented on the stock. Tigress Financial boosted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $575.00 to $645.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 16th. Rosenblatt Securities upped their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $562.00 to $643.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Susquehanna lifted their price target on Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $600.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Benchmark reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. Finally, Guggenheim lifted their target price on Meta Platforms from $500.00 to $600.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Two research 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 given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $577.26.

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.