Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) Shares Purchased by Valued Wealth Advisors LLC

Valued Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 11.1% during the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 621 shares of the social networking company’s stock after acquiring an additional 62 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms accounts for about 0.2% of Valued Wealth Advisors LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 26th biggest holding. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $313,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Delos Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Meta Platforms by 527.3% during 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. boosted its stake in 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 purchasing an additional 43 shares during the last quarter. Quest Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter worth $32,000. Kathleen S. Wright Associates Inc. acquired a new stake in Meta Platforms during the 1st quarter worth $44,000. Finally, Clear Investment Research LLC boosted its stake in Meta Platforms by 411.1% during 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. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $522.00 to $555.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Truist Financial boosted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $535.00 to $570.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Evercore ISI boosted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $600.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Susquehanna boosted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $600.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, TD Securities boosted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $530.00 to $600.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 10th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating, thirty-three have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Meta Platforms has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $572.51.

Insider Buying and Selling at Meta Platforms

In other news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 16,702 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction on Monday, August 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $514.89, for a total transaction of $8,599,692.78. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 89,927 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $46,302,513.03. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 16,702 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction on Monday, August 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $514.89, for a total transaction of $8,599,692.78. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 89,927 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $46,302,513.03. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 9th. The stock was 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 349,174 shares of company stock valued at $175,146,777. 13.71% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

NASDAQ:META traded up $10.57 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $537.33. The stock had a trading volume of 13,462,497 shares, compared to its average volume of 16,375,996. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $498.92 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $485.97. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12-month low of $274.38 and a 12-month 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. The stock has a market cap of $1.36 trillion, a P/E ratio of 30.92, a P/E/G ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 1.21.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 31st. The social networking company reported $5.16 earnings per share 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 firm had revenue of $39.07 billion for 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 quarterly revenue was up 22.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 20.5 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

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

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.