Ballast Advisors LLC Raises Stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Ballast Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 3.3% in the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,780 shares of the social networking company’s stock after purchasing an additional 119 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms makes up approximately 0.6% of Ballast Advisors LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 27th largest position. Ballast Advisors LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $1,906,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Meta Platforms by 0.4% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 187,180,393 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $90,891,055,000 after acquiring an additional 831,047 shares during the period. Capital World Investors increased its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.6% during the first quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 38,299,316 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $18,597,382,000 after acquiring an additional 244,803 shares in the last quarter. Capital International Investors increased its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 3.2% during the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 34,738,470 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $12,296,383,000 after acquiring an additional 1,083,719 shares in the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors increased its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 14.5% during the first quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 34,597,001 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $16,799,612,000 after acquiring an additional 4,379,826 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter valued at about $11,285,855,000. 79.91% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Meta Platforms

In other news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 16,702 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $531.46, for a total value of $8,876,444.92. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 11,384 shares in the company, valued at $6,050,140.64. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 16,702 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, August 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $531.46, for a total transaction of $8,876,444.92. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 11,384 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,050,140.64. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 5,057 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $526.76, for a total value of $2,663,825.32. Following the sale, the chief technology officer now directly owns 11,990 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,315,852.40. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 329,890 shares of company stock valued at $170,604,385 in the last 90 days. 13.71% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:META traded down $2.32 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $516.78. The company had a trading volume of 9,075,556 shares, compared to its average volume of 16,078,506. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.31 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 1.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a current ratio of 2.83 and a quick ratio of 2.68. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $503.64 and its 200 day moving average price is $492.02. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $279.40 and a fifty-two week high of $544.23.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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 return on equity of 34.16% and a net margin of 34.34%. The firm 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 business earned $3.23 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 22.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 20.5 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on META shares. Wolfe Research started coverage on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Tuesday, July 16th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $620.00 price target on the stock. Truist Financial increased their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $535.00 to $570.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $570.00 price target on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on Meta Platforms from $565.00 to $600.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $570.00 price objective on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Two 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. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price 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.