Apollon Wealth Management LLC Purchases 2,628 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Apollon Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 6.5% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 43,018 shares of the social networking company’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,628 shares during the period. Apollon Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $21,691,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. S.A. Mason LLC boosted its stake in Meta Platforms by 1.5% during the 1st quarter. S.A. Mason LLC now owns 1,328 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $645,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. Horizon Bancorp Inc. IN raised its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 2.0% during the first quarter. Horizon Bancorp Inc. IN now owns 1,057 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $513,000 after acquiring an additional 21 shares in the last quarter. Northern Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 3.4% during the first quarter. Northern Capital Management Inc. now owns 647 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $314,000 after acquiring an additional 21 shares in the last quarter. Buckingham Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 5.1% during the second quarter. Buckingham Capital Management Inc. now owns 433 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $218,000 after acquiring an additional 21 shares in the last quarter. Finally, LongView Wealth Management raised its holdings in Meta Platforms by 1.3% during the first quarter. LongView Wealth Management now owns 1,762 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $856,000 after buying an additional 22 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Stock Up 0.4 %

NASDAQ:META traded up $1.86 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $529.28. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 9,869,718 shares, compared to its average volume of 16,325,153. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.34 trillion, a PE ratio of 30.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 1.21. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $500.48 and a 200-day moving average of $488.50. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1 year low of $276.03 and a 1 year high of $542.81. The company has a quick ratio of 2.68, a current ratio of 2.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 34.34% and a return on equity of 34.16%. The firm had revenue of $39.07 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $38.26 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $3.23 EPS. Meta Platforms’s revenue was up 22.1% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 20.5 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on META shares. TD Securities raised their price target on Meta Platforms from $530.00 to $600.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 10th. Raymond James raised their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $600.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, July 1st. Benchmark reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. BNP Paribas assumed coverage on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday, May 2nd. They issued an “underperform” rating and a $360.00 target price for the company. Finally, Guggenheim boosted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $500.00 to $600.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, thirty-three have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $574.41.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 901 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $451.15, for a total transaction of $406,486.15. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 33,324 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,034,122.60. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other Meta Platforms news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 901 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $451.15, for a total value of $406,486.15. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 33,324 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $15,034,122.60. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Sheryl Sandberg sold 105,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $476.71, for a total transaction of $50,054,550.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 630,293 shares in the company, valued at approximately $300,466,976.03. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 349,174 shares of company stock worth $175,146,777 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

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.