Herbst Group LLC Has $3.75 Million Stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Herbst Group LLC grew its stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 33.1% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 7,438 shares of the social networking company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,848 shares during the period. Meta Platforms accounts for approximately 2.3% of Herbst Group LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 14th largest position. Herbst Group LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $3,750,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $11,285,855,000. Capital Research Global Investors raised its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 17.2% in the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 30,217,175 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $10,695,722,000 after buying an additional 4,440,229 shares in the last quarter. Concentrum Wealth Management raised its position in Meta Platforms by 111.0% during the fourth quarter. Concentrum Wealth Management now owns 7,391,877 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $2,616,000 after purchasing an additional 3,888,308 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Meta Platforms by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 186,349,346 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $65,960,215,000 after purchasing an additional 3,104,550 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jennison Associates LLC increased its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 24.7% during the first quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 13,867,398 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $6,733,731,000 after buying an additional 2,748,620 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently weighed in on META shares. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $520.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $570.00 price target on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. Rosenblatt Securities upped their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $562.00 to $643.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $525.00 to $585.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $580.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Two 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 issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $574.41.

Meta Platforms Stock Up 1.8 %

Meta Platforms stock traded up $9.42 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $536.15. The stock had a trading volume of 4,744,076 shares, compared to its average volume of 16,201,267. 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 $1.36 trillion, a P/E ratio of 30.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 1.21. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12-month low of $276.03 and a 12-month high of $542.81. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $501.40 and its 200-day moving average price is $489.81.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The social networking company reported $5.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.70 by $0.46. The business had revenue of $39.07 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $38.26 billion. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 34.34% and a return on equity of 34.16%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 22.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $3.23 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 20.5 EPS for the current fiscal 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 dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 14th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.37%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 11.49%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, August 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $532.21, for a total value of $481,650.05. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 41,437 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $22,053,185.77. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Meta Platforms news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 2,011 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction 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 completion of 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 filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction on Friday, August 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $532.21, for a total transaction of $481,650.05. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 41,437 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $22,053,185.77. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 384,783 shares of company stock worth $194,001,589. Company insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

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.