Sigma Investment Counselors Inc. Acquires 2,110 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

Sigma Investment Counselors Inc. lifted its position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 10.2% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 22,709 shares of the social networking company’s stock after buying an additional 2,110 shares during the period. Meta Platforms makes up about 0.9% of Sigma Investment Counselors Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 26th biggest position. Sigma Investment Counselors Inc.’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $16,761,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Barnes Dennig Private Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the 1st quarter valued at $28,000. MJT & Associates Financial Advisory Group Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the first quarter worth about $33,000. Evergreen Private Wealth LLC grew its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 237.5% in the second quarter. Evergreen Private Wealth LLC now owns 54 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $40,000 after purchasing an additional 38 shares in the last quarter. Maseco LLP bought a new position in Meta Platforms during the second quarter valued at $54,000. Finally, eCIO Inc. bought a new stake in Meta Platforms during the first quarter worth approximately $58,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Meta Platforms news, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 11,694 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $775.00, for a total transaction of $9,062,850.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief technology officer directly owned 1,799 shares in the company, valued at $1,394,225. This trade represents a 86.67% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Christopher K. Cox sold 60,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $775.95, for a total value of $46,557,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 237,205 shares in the company, valued at $184,059,219.75. This represents a 20.19% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 213,146 shares of company stock worth $164,208,279. Company insiders own 13.61% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Stock Up 0.1%

Shares of META opened at $751.44 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.97, a quick ratio of 1.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $741.78 and its two-hundred day moving average is $694.67. The firm has a market cap of $1.89 trillion, a P/E ratio of 27.21, a PEG ratio of 1.59 and a beta of 1.20. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12 month low of $479.80 and a 12 month high of $796.25.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The social networking company reported $7.14 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.75 by $1.39. The business had revenue of $47.52 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $44.55 billion. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 39.33% and a net margin of 39.99%.The business’s quarterly revenue was up 21.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $5.16 earnings per share. Analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 29th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 22nd were issued a dividend of $0.525 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 22nd. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.3%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 7.60%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Barclays increased their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $640.00 to $810.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Benchmark lifted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $800.00 to $890.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Tuesday, October 14th. Finally, Mizuho set a $925.00 price objective on Meta Platforms and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, September 29th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-nine have issued a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $829.66.

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.