Latitude Advisors LLC Raises Stock Position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Latitude Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 3.9% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 2,449 shares of the social networking company’s stock after buying an additional 93 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms accounts for approximately 0.8% of Latitude Advisors LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 27th largest position. Latitude Advisors LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $1,235,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

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

Insider Activity at Meta Platforms

In related news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 2,011 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 318,932 shares in the company, valued at approximately $159,759,417.44. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other Meta Platforms news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 2,011 shares of the firm’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 transaction 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 transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Sheryl Sandberg sold 105,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $476.71, for a total transaction of $50,054,550.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 630,293 shares in the company, valued at $300,466,976.03. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 434,477 shares of company stock valued at $220,437,187 in the last three months. 13.71% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Meta Platforms Stock Up 0.3 %

NASDAQ:META traded up $1.59 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $522.71. 2,105,459 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 16,095,785. The business has a 50-day moving average of $503.25 and a two-hundred day moving average of $491.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a quick ratio of 2.68 and a current ratio of 2.83. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12-month low of $279.40 and a 12-month high of $544.23. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.33 trillion, a PE ratio of 30.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 1.21.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 analysts’ expectations of $38.26 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $3.23 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 22.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 20.5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have commented on META. Rosenblatt Securities boosted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $562.00 to $643.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. BNP Paribas assumed coverage on Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday, May 2nd. They set an “underperform” rating and a $360.00 price target for the company. TD Securities increased their target price on Meta Platforms from $530.00 to $600.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 10th. Sanford C. Bernstein upped their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $565.00 to $575.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, July 22nd. Finally, Piper Sandler boosted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $545.00 to $575.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, thirty-three have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $574.41.

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.