Sage Advisors LLC Buys 186 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Sage Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 10.0% during the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,038 shares of the social networking company’s stock after purchasing an additional 186 shares during the period. Meta Platforms makes up 0.8% of Sage Advisors LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 16th largest holding. Sage Advisors LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $1,028,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of META. Greater Midwest Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in Meta Platforms during the second quarter worth about $2,925,000. Centaurus Financial Inc. boosted its stake in Meta Platforms by 75.1% during the second quarter. Centaurus Financial Inc. now owns 23,244 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $11,720,000 after acquiring an additional 9,972 shares in the last quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in Meta Platforms by 0.4% during the second quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC now owns 20,112 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $10,141,000 after acquiring an additional 83 shares in the last quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund boosted its stake in Meta Platforms by 926.6% during the second quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund now owns 733,358 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $369,774,000 after acquiring an additional 661,923 shares in the last quarter. Finally, University of Texas Texas AM Investment Management Co. boosted its stake in Meta Platforms by 7.6% during the second quarter. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Management Co. now owns 14,495 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $7,309,000 after acquiring an additional 1,024 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, COO Javier Olivan sold 413 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $570.00, for a total value of $235,410.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 12,359 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,044,630. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In related news, COO Javier Olivan sold 413 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $570.00, for a total value of $235,410.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 12,359 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,044,630. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 901 shares of the 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 owns 33,324 shares in the company, valued at $15,034,122.60. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 308,462 shares of company stock valued at $162,308,065 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

META has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. KeyCorp lifted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $540.00 to $560.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed a “market perform” rating and issued a $450.00 target price on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Wednesday, June 12th. Piper Sandler lifted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $545.00 to $575.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Truist Financial lifted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $535.00 to $570.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, Wolfe Research initiated coverage on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Tuesday, July 16th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $620.00 target price for the company. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, thirty-five have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $598.08.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

META stock opened at $572.81 on Thursday. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 52 week low of $279.40 and a 52 week high of $583.04. The company has a quick ratio of 2.83, a current ratio of 2.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $521.88 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $501.35. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.45 trillion, a P/E ratio of 32.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 1.21.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The social networking company reported $5.16 earnings per share 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $38.26 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $3.23 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 22.1% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 21.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 26th. Investors of record on Monday, September 16th were paid a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.35%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 16th. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is presently 11.49%.

Meta Platforms 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.