Parsons Capital Management Inc. RI Buys 1,413 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Parsons Capital Management Inc. RI increased its stake in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 24.4% during the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 7,195 shares of the social networking company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,413 shares during the period. Parsons Capital Management Inc. RI’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $3,628,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. S.A. Mason LLC boosted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.5% in the 1st 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 boosted its position in Meta Platforms by 2.0% in the first quarter. Horizon Bancorp Inc. IN now owns 1,057 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $513,000 after purchasing an additional 21 shares during the last quarter. Northern Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in Meta Platforms by 3.4% in the first quarter. Northern Capital Management Inc. now owns 647 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $314,000 after purchasing an additional 21 shares during the last quarter. Buckingham Capital Management Inc. grew its stake in Meta Platforms by 5.1% in the 2nd quarter. Buckingham Capital Management Inc. now owns 433 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $218,000 after purchasing an additional 21 shares during the period. Finally, LongView Wealth Management increased its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.3% during the 1st 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. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ META traded up $1.86 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $529.28. 9,869,718 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 16,325,153. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $501.01 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $489.45. The company has a market capitalization of $1.34 trillion, a P/E ratio of 30.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 1.21. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 52-week low of $276.03 and a 52-week 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.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last posted its quarterly 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 firm posted $3.23 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 22.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast 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 given a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 14th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.38%. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is 11.49%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently issued reports on META shares. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $520.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Raymond James upped their price objective on Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $600.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, July 1st. Rosenblatt Securities raised their target price on Meta Platforms from $562.00 to $643.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Tigress Financial upped their price target on Meta Platforms from $575.00 to $645.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Meta Platforms from $625.00 to $647.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Two investment 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 assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Meta Platforms presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $574.41.

Insider Activity

In other Meta Platforms news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 2,011 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $500.92, for a total value of $1,007,350.12. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 318,932 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $159,759,417.44. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, CFO Susan J. Li sold 8,950 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $526.76, for a total transaction of $4,714,502.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 74,579 shares in the company, valued at approximately $39,285,234.04. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 2,011 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $500.92, for a total value of $1,007,350.12. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 318,932 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $159,759,417.44. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 385,688 shares of company stock valued at $194,424,740. 13.71% of the stock is currently owned by 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.