Raymond James & Associates Has $1.30 Billion Position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Raymond James & Associates grew its holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 7.2% during the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 2,588,132 shares of the social networking company’s stock after purchasing an additional 172,985 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms comprises about 0.9% of Raymond James & Associates’ portfolio, making the stock its 13th biggest position. Raymond James & Associates owned approximately 0.10% of Meta Platforms worth $1,304,988,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Baird Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in Meta Platforms by 24.2% in the fourth quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 835,972 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $295,901,000 after acquiring an additional 163,067 shares during the period. California State Teachers Retirement System raised its holdings in Meta Platforms by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 3,576,285 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $1,265,862,000 after buying an additional 51,900 shares during the last quarter. Donoghue Forlines LLC lifted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 94.4% in the fourth quarter. Donoghue Forlines LLC now owns 8,349 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $2,955,000 after buying an additional 4,054 shares in the last quarter. Voyager Global Management LP grew its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 37.3% during the fourth quarter. Voyager Global Management LP now owns 515,000 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $182,289,000 after buying an additional 140,000 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management UK Ltd. increased its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 400.0% during the fourth quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management UK Ltd. now owns 2,500 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $885,000 after acquiring an additional 2,000 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Sheryl Sandberg sold 105,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $476.71, for a total value of $50,054,550.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 630,293 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $300,466,976.03. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, Director Sheryl Sandberg sold 105,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $476.71, for a total value of $50,054,550.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 630,293 shares in the company, valued at $300,466,976.03. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 16,702 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, August 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $514.89, for a total value of $8,599,692.78. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 89,927 shares in the company, valued at $46,302,513.03. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 349,174 shares of company stock worth $175,146,777 over the last 90 days. 13.71% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Meta Platforms Stock Down 1.8 %

Shares of META traded down $9.91 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $527.42. The company had a trading volume of 14,715,158 shares, compared to its average volume of 16,365,660. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a quick ratio of 2.68 and a current ratio of 2.83. The company has a market capitalization of $1.34 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 1.21. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $500.48 and a 200 day moving average price of $487.81. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 52 week low of $274.38 and a 52 week high of $542.81.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The social networking company reported $5.16 earnings per share 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 the consensus estimate of $38.26 billion. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 34.16% and a net margin of 34.34%. The company’s revenue was up 22.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $3.23 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 20.5 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 14th were paid a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 14th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.38%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is presently 11.49%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on META shares. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on Meta Platforms from $522.00 to $555.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Barclays lifted their target price on Meta Platforms from $520.00 to $550.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $575.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Guggenheim boosted their target price on Meta Platforms from $500.00 to $600.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, UBS Group increased their price target on Meta Platforms from $630.00 to $635.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, thirty-three have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Meta Platforms presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $574.41.

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.