Quarry LP Raises Position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Quarry LP raised its position in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 208.3% during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 259 shares of the social networking company’s stock after purchasing an additional 175 shares during the period. Quarry LP’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $131,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Invst LLC raised its position in Meta Platforms by 18.1% during the second quarter. Invst LLC now owns 6,095 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $3,076,000 after purchasing an additional 936 shares in the last quarter. Covington Investment Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms during the second quarter valued at about $7,115,000. Sunbelt Securities Inc. raised its position in Meta Platforms by 39.4% during the second quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 13,445 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $6,779,000 after purchasing an additional 3,799 shares in the last quarter. Front Row Advisors LLC raised its position in Meta Platforms by 5.7% during the second quarter. Front Row Advisors LLC now owns 371 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $187,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Coastal Bridge Advisors LLC raised its position in Meta Platforms by 2.2% during the second quarter. Coastal Bridge Advisors LLC now owns 9,884 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $4,984,000 after purchasing an additional 210 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Meta Platforms

In other Meta Platforms news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 8,727 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, July 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $528.87, for a total transaction of $4,615,448.49. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 178,099 shares in the company, valued at approximately $94,191,218.13. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $533.95, for a total transaction of $483,224.75. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 36,940 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $19,724,113. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 8,727 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, July 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $528.87, for a total transaction of $4,615,448.49. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 178,099 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $94,191,218.13. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 308,462 shares of company stock worth $162,308,065. Insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ META opened at $576.47 on Wednesday. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a twelve month low of $279.40 and a twelve month high of $583.04. The firm has a market cap of $1.46 trillion, a P/E ratio of 33.11, a PEG ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 1.21. The company has a 50 day moving average of $519.65 and a 200 day moving average of $500.85. 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 (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 analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.70 by $0.46. The business had revenue of $39.07 billion during 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%. The company’s quarterly revenue 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. As a group, research analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 21.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on META shares. Susquehanna raised their price target on Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $600.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $575.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Sanford C. Bernstein raised their price objective on Meta Platforms from $565.00 to $575.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, July 22nd. Piper Sandler raised their price objective on Meta Platforms from $545.00 to $575.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, JMP Securities raised their price objective on Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $635.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 26th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, thirty-five have assigned a buy rating and two have given 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 $597.95.

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.