Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) Holdings Increased by Jackson Wealth Management LLC

Jackson Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 392.2% during the second quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 6,069 shares of the social networking company’s stock after acquiring an additional 4,836 shares during the period. Jackson Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $3,060,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in META. Delos Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 527.3% in the 1st quarter. Delos Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 69 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 58 shares during the last quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. grew its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 95.6% in the 1st quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. now owns 88 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $41,000 after purchasing an additional 43 shares during the last quarter. Quest Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter worth approximately $32,000. Kathleen S. Wright Associates Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the 1st quarter worth approximately $44,000. Finally, Clear Investment Research LLC grew its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 411.1% in the 4th quarter. Clear Investment Research LLC now owns 92 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 74 shares during the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

NASDAQ:META traded down $9.60 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $488.14. 24,044,658 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 17,151,374. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.24 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.04, a P/E/G ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 1.21. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a twelve month low of $274.38 and a twelve month high of $542.81. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $494.09 and a 200 day moving average of $479.09. The company has a current ratio of 2.83, a quick ratio of 2.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last released its 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. The firm had revenue of $39.07 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $38.26 billion. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 34.34% and a return on equity of 34.16%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 22.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $3.23 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 20.5 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 26th. Investors of record on Friday, June 14th were paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.41%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 14th. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is currently 11.49%.

Insider Activity at Meta Platforms

In related news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of the company’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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 36,940 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,724,113. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other Meta Platforms 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 value of $483,224.75. Following 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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 412 shares of the business’s 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 in the company, valued at approximately $2,573,817. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 310,685 shares of company stock worth $154,398,206 in the last ninety days. 13.71% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on META shares. TD Securities lifted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $530.00 to $600.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 10th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $565.00 to $600.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday. Guggenheim lifted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $500.00 to $600.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $480.00 to $610.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein lifted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $565.00 to $575.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, July 22nd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating, thirty-three have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $571.84.

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.