D.B. Root & Company LLC Acquires 1,184 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

D.B. Root & Company LLC increased its position in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 28.1% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 5,393 shares of the social networking company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,184 shares during the period. Meta Platforms makes up 0.9% of D.B. Root & Company LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 22nd largest holding. D.B. Root & Company LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $2,719,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in META. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter valued at about $11,285,855,000. Capital Research Global Investors increased its stake 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 worth $10,695,722,000 after acquiring an additional 4,440,229 shares during the period. Concentrum Wealth Management increased its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 111.0% in the fourth quarter. Concentrum Wealth Management now owns 7,391,877 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $2,616,000 after acquiring an additional 3,888,308 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 186,349,346 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $65,960,215,000 after acquiring an additional 3,104,550 shares during the period. Finally, Cerity Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 1,457.5% in the fourth quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 3,156,360 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $1,117,225,000 after acquiring an additional 2,953,704 shares during the period. 79.91% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

Shares of META traded down $1.82 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $515.95. 9,758,071 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 16,443,930. The business has a 50-day moving average of $497.26 and a 200 day moving average of $484.74. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.31 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.64, a PEG ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 1.21. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a one year low of $274.38 and a one year high of $542.81. The company has a current ratio of 2.83, a quick ratio of 2.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The social networking company reported $5.16 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.70 by $0.46. The firm had revenue of $39.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $38.26 billion. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 34.16% and a net margin of 34.34%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 22.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $3.23 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 20.5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 14th were issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 14th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.39%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 11.49%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 150 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $500.49, for a total value of $75,073.50. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 124,387 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $62,254,449.63. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Meta Platforms news, Director Peggy Alford sold 1,052 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $479.00, for a total value of $503,908.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 6,168 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,954,472. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 150 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $500.49, for a total transaction of $75,073.50. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 124,387 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $62,254,449.63. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 335,860 shares of company stock worth $167,199,478 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on META. Piper Sandler increased their price target 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. Roth Mkm raised their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $510.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Susquehanna lifted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $600.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. 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 research report on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, Raymond James raised their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $600.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, July 1st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, thirty-three have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $572.51.

Meta Platforms 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.