OneAscent Financial Services LLC Raises Stock Holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

OneAscent Financial Services LLC increased its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 2.9% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 2,455 shares of the social networking company’s stock after buying an additional 69 shares during the quarter. OneAscent Financial Services LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $1,426,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Inlight Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Meta Platforms in the 1st quarter valued at $25,000. Barnes Dennig Private Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms during the 1st quarter worth approximately $28,000. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter valued at about $43,000. Marshall & Sterling Wealth Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter worth about $45,000. Finally, JCIC Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in Meta Platforms by 102.6% in the first quarter. JCIC Asset Management Inc. now owns 79 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $46,000 after acquiring an additional 40 shares in the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Meta Platforms

In related news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 519 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $716.10, for a total transaction of $371,655.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 26,069 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $18,668,010.90. The trade was a 1.95% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Robert M. Kimmitt sold 465 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $723.08, for a total transaction of $336,232.20. Following the sale, the director owned 9,342 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,755,013.36. The trade was a 4.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 153,473 shares of company stock worth $105,805,440. 13.61% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

META has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Sanford C. Bernstein raised their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $700.00 to $775.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $655.00 to $845.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Oppenheimer boosted their price target on Meta Platforms from $665.00 to $775.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, June 16th. Needham & Company LLC raised shares of Meta Platforms from an “underperform” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 3rd. Finally, Barclays cut their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $705.00 to $640.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty-eight have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $752.33.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ META opened at $714.80 on Friday. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a twelve month low of $442.65 and a twelve month high of $747.90. The company has a market cap of $1.80 trillion, a PE ratio of 27.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 1.28. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $691.04 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $640.92. The company has a quick ratio of 2.66, a current ratio of 2.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The social networking company reported $6.43 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.33 by $1.10. The firm had revenue of $42.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $41.45 billion. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 38.69% and a net margin of 39.11%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 16.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $4.71 earnings per share. On average, analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 26th. Investors of record on Monday, June 16th were issued a dividend of $0.525 per share. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.29%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 16th. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 8.19%.

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.