GPS Wealth Strategies Group LLC Acquires 565 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

GPS Wealth Strategies Group LLC increased its stake in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 9.6% during the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 6,428 shares of the social networking company’s stock after buying an additional 565 shares during the quarter. GPS Wealth Strategies Group LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $3,241,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Delos Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in Meta Platforms by 527.3% during the first quarter. Delos Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 69 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $34,000 after buying an additional 58 shares in the last quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 95.6% during the 1st quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. now owns 88 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $41,000 after acquiring an additional 43 shares during the period. Quest Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter worth approximately $32,000. Kathleen S. Wright Associates Inc. bought a new position in Meta Platforms in the first quarter valued at approximately $44,000. Finally, Clear Investment Research LLC raised its position in 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 purchasing an additional 74 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on META shares. Raymond James lifted their price target on Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $600.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, July 1st. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on Meta Platforms from $565.00 to $600.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. UBS Group increased their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $630.00 to $635.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $520.00 to $550.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $580.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note 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 issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $572.51.

Meta Platforms Trading Up 2.1 %

META traded up $11.09 during trading on Thursday, hitting $537.85. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 4,747,012 shares, compared to its average volume of 16,320,536. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.36 trillion, a P/E ratio of 30.92, a PEG 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 stock’s fifty day moving average price is $498.92 and its 200-day moving average price is $485.97. 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 released its 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. The company had revenue of $39.07 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $38.26 billion. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 34.34% and a return on equity of 34.16%. Meta Platforms’s quarterly revenue was up 22.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $3.23 EPS. Analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 20.5 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 14th were given a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 14th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.37%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 11.49%.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $467.57, for a total transaction of $423,150.85. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 43,275 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $20,234,091.75. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, COO Javier Olivan sold 412 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $472.70, for a total transaction of $194,752.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 15,376 shares in the company, valued at $7,268,235.20. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $467.57, for a total transaction of $423,150.85. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 43,275 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,234,091.75. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 349,174 shares of company stock worth $175,146,777 in the last three months. Company insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

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.