Burns J W & Co. Inc. NY Buys 431 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Burns J W & Co. Inc. NY increased its stake in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 2.5% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 17,472 shares of the social networking company’s stock after purchasing an additional 431 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms comprises about 1.2% of Burns J W & Co. Inc. NY’s portfolio, making the stock its 24th biggest position. Burns J W & Co. Inc. NY’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $8,810,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Monument Capital Management bought a new stake in Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter worth about $249,000. Larson Financial Group LLC raised its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 2.8% during the fourth quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 5,633 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $1,994,000 after buying an additional 154 shares during the last quarter. SlateStone Wealth LLC lifted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 34.9% in the fourth quarter. SlateStone Wealth LLC now owns 3,244 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $1,148,000 after buying an additional 839 shares during the period. Community Bank & Trust Waco Texas bought a new position in Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $332,000. Finally, Masso Torrence Wealth Management Inc. grew its holdings in Meta Platforms by 4.0% during the 4th quarter. Masso Torrence Wealth Management Inc. now owns 1,230 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $435,000 after acquiring an additional 47 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on META. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on Meta Platforms from $565.00 to $600.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Meta Platforms from $480.00 to $610.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. BNP Paribas initiated coverage on Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday, May 2nd. They set an “underperform” rating and a $360.00 target price for the company. Tigress Financial increased 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 report on Friday, August 16th. Finally, Loop Capital lifted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $575.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 6th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, thirty-three have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $574.41.

Insider Transactions at Meta Platforms

In related news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 901 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $451.15, for a total value of $406,486.15. Following the sale, the insider now owns 33,324 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,034,122.60. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, Director Sheryl Sandberg sold 105,000 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $476.71, for a total transaction of $50,054,550.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 630,293 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $300,466,976.03. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 901 shares of the business’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 completion of 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. In the last three months, insiders sold 418,680 shares of company stock worth $211,992,147. 13.71% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

NASDAQ:META opened at $531.93 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.35 trillion, a PE ratio of 30.55, a P/E/G ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 1.21. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1-year low of $276.03 and a 1-year high of $544.23. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $502.48 and a 200 day simple moving average of $490.42. The company has a current ratio of 2.83, a quick ratio of 2.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 31st. The social networking company reported $5.16 earnings per share 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 analyst estimates of $38.26 billion. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 34.34% and a return on equity of 34.16%. Meta Platforms’s revenue for the quarter was up 22.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $3.23 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 20.5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 14th were given a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 14th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.38%. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is 11.49%.

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.