Ballast Inc. Has $280,000 Position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Ballast Inc. grew its holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 8.6% in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 556 shares of the social networking company’s stock after acquiring an additional 44 shares during the period. Ballast Inc.’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $280,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Aspire Private Capital LLC boosted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 4.1% in the 2nd quarter. Aspire Private Capital LLC now owns 4,065 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $2,050,000 after purchasing an additional 160 shares in the last quarter. Delta Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in Meta Platforms by 3.7% during the second quarter. Delta Financial Group Inc. now owns 3,601 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $1,816,000 after buying an additional 128 shares during the last quarter. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 10.1% during the second quarter. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC now owns 3,744 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $1,888,000 after buying an additional 344 shares in the last quarter. Granite Bay Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 7,878.5% in the second quarter. Granite Bay Wealth Management LLC now owns 172,176 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $83,399,000 after acquiring an additional 170,018 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Newman Dignan & Sheerar Inc. raised its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 37.7% in the second quarter. Newman Dignan & Sheerar Inc. now owns 4,926 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $2,484,000 after acquiring an additional 1,348 shares during the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Meta Platforms Stock Down 0.4 %

Shares of NASDAQ:META traded down $1.82 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $515.95. 9,758,071 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 16,443,930. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $497.26 and its 200-day simple moving average is $484.74. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a one year low of $274.38 and a one year high of $542.81. The company has a market cap of $1.31 trillion, a P/E ratio of 29.64, a P/E/G ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 1.21. 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 quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The social networking company reported $5.16 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $38.26 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $3.23 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 22.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 20.5 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently weighed in on META. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $570.00 price target on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. Canaccord Genuity Group lowered their target price on Meta Platforms from $610.00 to $575.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 25th. BNP Paribas initiated coverage on Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday, May 2nd. They issued an “underperform” rating and a $360.00 price target for the company. Sanford C. Bernstein increased their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $565.00 to $575.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, July 22nd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $625.00 to $647.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating, thirty-three have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $572.51.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Meta Platforms news, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 5,058 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $471.85, for a total transaction of $2,386,617.30. Following the transaction, the chief technology officer now owns 15,412 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,272,152.20. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 5,058 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $471.85, for a total transaction of $2,386,617.30. Following the transaction, the chief technology officer now directly owns 15,412 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,272,152.20. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, 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 transaction of $406,486.15. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 33,324 shares in the company, valued at $15,034,122.60. 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 three months. 13.71% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.