Garde Capital Inc. Boosts Holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Garde Capital Inc. raised its holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 137.8% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 8,331 shares of the social networking company’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,828 shares during the quarter. Garde Capital Inc.’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $4,201,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in META. Delos Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 527.3% during the 1st quarter. Delos Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 69 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 58 shares in the last quarter. POM Investment Strategies LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the 2nd quarter worth about $38,000. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 122.2% during the 2nd quarter. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. now owns 80 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $40,000 after acquiring an additional 44 shares in the last quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 95.6% during the 1st quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. now owns 88 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $41,000 after acquiring an additional 43 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Kathleen S. Wright Associates Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the 1st quarter worth about $44,000. 79.91% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently weighed in on META shares. Bank of America upped their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $563.00 to $630.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $630.00 to $635.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Oppenheimer upped their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $525.00 to $615.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Needham & Company LLC restated an “underperform” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Wednesday, September 4th. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities upped their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $643.00 to $811.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating, thirty-four have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $591.23.

Insider Buying and Selling at Meta Platforms

In other Meta Platforms news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $500.57, for a total value of $453,015.85. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 37,845 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $18,944,071.65. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other news, COO Javier Olivan sold 412 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $463.00, for a total transaction of $190,756.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 5,559 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,573,817. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $500.57, for a total transaction of $453,015.85. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 37,845 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $18,944,071.65. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 325,656 shares of company stock valued at $171,028,659 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

NASDAQ:META opened at $567.36 on Monday. 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 $1.44 trillion, a P/E ratio of 32.59, a PEG ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 1.21. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $516.19 and a 200 day moving average price of $499.63. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $279.40 and a fifty-two week high of $577.40.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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 last year, the company posted $3.23 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 22.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 21.36 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

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