Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) Shares Bought by Smart Money Group LLC

Smart Money Group LLC raised its position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 20.4% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 2,052 shares of the social networking company’s stock after purchasing an additional 348 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms comprises 1.0% of Smart Money Group LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 22nd biggest position. Smart Money Group LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $1,182,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of META. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.7% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 34,551 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $20,230,000 after acquiring an additional 570 shares during the last quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 10.2% in the 4th quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 9,456 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $5,537,000 after acquiring an additional 875 shares during the last quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG lifted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 3.5% during the 4th quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG now owns 221,459 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $129,666,000 after buying an additional 7,587 shares in the last quarter. Highview Capital Management LLC DE lifted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 3.7% during the 4th quarter. Highview Capital Management LLC DE now owns 6,189 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $3,624,000 after buying an additional 218 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Benchstone Capital Management LP purchased a new position in Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $23,749,000. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Barclays increased their price objective on Meta Platforms from $640.00 to $810.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 1st. UBS Group upped their price target on Meta Platforms from $812.00 to $897.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Raymond James Financial upped their price target on Meta Platforms from $750.00 to $900.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. JMP Securities upped their price target on Meta Platforms from $750.00 to $900.00 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, Loop Capital restated a “buy” rating and set a $980.00 price target (up previously from $888.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Tuesday, August 5th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty-nine have assigned a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $822.41.

Meta Platforms Stock Down 1.3%

Shares of NASDAQ:META opened at $780.08 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.96 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.64 and a beta of 1.27. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1-year low of $479.80 and a 1-year high of $795.46. The company’s fifty day moving average is $720.73 and its two-hundred day moving average is $653.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a quick ratio of 1.97 and a current ratio of 1.97.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The social networking company reported $7.14 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.75 by $1.39. The business had revenue of $47.52 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $44.55 billion. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 39.99% and a return on equity of 39.33%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 21.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $5.16 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate 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. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 16th were given a dividend of $0.525 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 16th. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.3%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is currently 7.60%.

Insider Transactions at Meta Platforms

In related news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 15,847 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $753.43, for a total value of $11,939,605.21. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 22,449 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $636.85, for a total transaction of $14,296,645.65. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief technology officer owned 1,183 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $753,393.55. This represents a 94.99% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 292,211 shares of company stock worth $215,232,155. Insiders own 13.61% of the company’s stock.

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.