Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) Shares Purchased by Kennedy Investment Group

Kennedy Investment Group raised its holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 20.1% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 2,209 shares of the social networking company’s stock after buying an additional 369 shares during the quarter. Kennedy Investment Group’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $1,114,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. S.A. Mason LLC lifted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.5% in the first quarter. S.A. Mason LLC now owns 1,328 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $645,000 after buying an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. Horizon Bancorp Inc. IN raised its holdings in Meta Platforms by 2.0% in the 1st quarter. Horizon Bancorp Inc. IN now owns 1,057 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $513,000 after acquiring an additional 21 shares during the period. Northern Capital Management Inc. lifted its position in Meta Platforms by 3.4% during the 1st quarter. Northern Capital Management Inc. now owns 647 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $314,000 after acquiring an additional 21 shares during the last quarter. Buckingham Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 5.1% during the second quarter. Buckingham Capital Management Inc. now owns 433 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $218,000 after acquiring an additional 21 shares during the period. Finally, LongView Wealth Management grew its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.3% in the first quarter. LongView Wealth Management now owns 1,762 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $856,000 after purchasing an additional 22 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Trading Down 1.8 %

Shares of META traded down $9.91 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $527.42. The stock had a trading volume of 14,715,158 shares, compared to its average volume of 16,365,660. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $500.48 and a 200 day moving average of $487.20. 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 company has a market cap of $1.34 trillion, a P/E ratio of 30.29, a P/E/G ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 1.21. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 52 week low of $274.38 and a 52 week high of $542.81.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The social networking company reported $5.16 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 the consensus estimate of $38.26 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $3.23 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 22.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 20.5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed 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 0.38%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 14th. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is presently 11.49%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on META shares. KeyCorp boosted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $540.00 to $560.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $522.00 to $555.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Wolfe Research initiated coverage on Meta Platforms in a research report on Tuesday, July 16th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $620.00 target price on the stock. Canaccord Genuity Group lowered their price target on Meta Platforms from $610.00 to $575.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 25th. Finally, Benchmark reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, thirty-three have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $574.41.

Insider Buying and Selling at Meta Platforms

In other Meta Platforms news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 16,702 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $528.51, for a total transaction of $8,827,174.02. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 72,473 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $38,302,705.23. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other Meta Platforms news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 16,702 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $528.51, for a total transaction of $8,827,174.02. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 72,473 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $38,302,705.23. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of the firm’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 owns 43,275 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $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 over the last ninety days. 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.