MJP Associates Inc. ADV Buys 474 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

MJP Associates Inc. ADV raised its stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 10.3% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 5,097 shares of the social networking company’s stock after purchasing an additional 474 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms accounts for 0.5% of MJP Associates Inc. ADV’s portfolio, making the stock its 28th biggest position. MJP Associates Inc. ADV’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $2,570,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Delos Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 527.3% during the first quarter. Delos Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 69 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 58 shares during the last quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. lifted its holdings in 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 buying an additional 43 shares during the period. Quest Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter worth approximately $32,000. Kathleen S. Wright Associates Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the first quarter valued at approximately $44,000. Finally, Clear Investment Research LLC raised its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 411.1% during the fourth quarter. Clear Investment Research LLC now owns 92 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 74 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Meta Platforms

In other Meta Platforms news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 150 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, August 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $500.49, for a total transaction of $75,073.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 124,387 shares in the company, valued at $62,254,449.63. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other Meta Platforms news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 150 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $500.49, for a total transaction of $75,073.50. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 124,387 shares in the company, valued at $62,254,449.63. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 5,058 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $471.85, for a total value of $2,386,617.30. Following the completion of the sale, the chief technology officer now directly owns 15,412 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,272,152.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 319,158 shares of company stock valued at $158,629,849 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

META has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Guggenheim boosted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $500.00 to $600.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Raymond James increased 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. TD Securities raised their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $530.00 to $600.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 10th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on Meta Platforms from $565.00 to $600.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, Roth Mkm upped their price target on Meta Platforms from $510.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating, thirty-three have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $572.51.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

Shares of Meta Platforms stock traded up $8.14 on Friday, hitting $517.77. 13,696,640 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 16,487,600. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 52 week low of $274.38 and a 52 week high of $542.81. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $496.49 and a 200 day simple moving average of $483.87. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $1.31 trillion, a P/E ratio of 29.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 1.21.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The social networking company reported $5.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.70 by $0.46. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 34.34% and a return on equity of 34.16%. The company had revenue of $39.07 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $38.26 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $3.23 EPS. Meta Platforms’s revenue for the quarter was up 22.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 20.5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 14th were paid a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.39%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 14th. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is 11.49%.

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.