Vista Investment Partners LLC Buys 351 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Vista Investment Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 46.7% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,102 shares of the social networking company’s stock after buying an additional 351 shares during the period. Vista Investment Partners LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $556,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.4% during the 1st 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 last quarter. Capital World Investors grew its holdings in 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 purchasing an additional 244,803 shares during the period. Capital International Investors raised its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 3.2% in the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 34,738,470 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $12,296,383,000 after buying an additional 1,083,719 shares during the period. Capital Research Global Investors raised its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 14.5% in the first quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 34,597,001 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $16,799,612,000 after buying an additional 4,379,826 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $11,285,855,000. 79.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the stock. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $575.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $630.00 to $635.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Susquehanna increased their price target on Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $600.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $500.00 to $530.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, Guggenheim boosted their target price on Meta Platforms from $500.00 to $600.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, thirty-three have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $574.41.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 16,702 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $514.89, for a total transaction of $8,599,692.78. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 89,927 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $46,302,513.03. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other Meta Platforms news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $533.95, for a total transaction of $483,224.75. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 36,940 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $19,724,113. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 16,702 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $514.89, for a total transaction of $8,599,692.78. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 89,927 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $46,302,513.03. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 349,174 shares of company stock worth $175,146,777 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Stock Down 1.8 %

Shares of Meta Platforms stock traded down $9.91 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. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1 year low of $274.38 and a 1 year high of $542.81. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $500.48 and a 200 day moving average price of $487.81. 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 capitalization 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 (NASDAQ:META) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 31st. The social networking company reported $5.16 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 analyst estimates of $38.26 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $3.23 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 22.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 20.5 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 26th. Investors of record on Friday, June 14th were given a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.38%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 14th. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is currently 11.49%.

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.