Cypress Capital Group Grows Stock Holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Cypress Capital Group increased its position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 89.2% in the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 4,396 shares of the social networking company’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,073 shares during the period. Cypress Capital Group’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $2,217,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. White Pine Capital LLC lifted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 44.9% during the 4th quarter. White Pine Capital LLC now owns 1,413 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $500,000 after buying an additional 438 shares in the last quarter. Intact Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in Meta Platforms by 2.2% in the 4th quarter. Intact Investment Management Inc. now owns 6,850 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $2,425,000 after purchasing an additional 150 shares in the last quarter. Pursue Wealth Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 69.8% during the 4th quarter. Pursue Wealth Partners LLC now owns 5,447 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $1,928,000 after buying an additional 2,240 shares in the last quarter. Principle Wealth Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. Principle Wealth Partners LLC now owns 9,104 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $3,222,000 after buying an additional 59 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Omnia Family Wealth LLC raised its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 18.8% during the 4th quarter. Omnia Family Wealth LLC now owns 2,807 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $994,000 after buying an additional 445 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

Shares of META traded down $10.34 on Monday, reaching $517.66. The stock had a trading volume of 2,717,763 shares, compared to its average volume of 16,139,225. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.31 trillion, a PE ratio of 29.98, a PEG ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 1.21. 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 firm has a 50-day moving average of $502.96 and a 200 day moving average of $491.30. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a twelve month low of $279.40 and a twelve month high of $544.23.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last released its quarterly earnings results 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. The business had revenue of $39.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $38.26 billion. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 34.16% and a net margin of 34.34%. The company’s revenue was up 22.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $3.23 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 20.5 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Activity at Meta Platforms

In related news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $528.38, for a total value of $478,183.90. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 40,532 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $21,416,298.16. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $528.38, for a total transaction of $478,183.90. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 40,532 shares in the company, valued at $21,416,298.16. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 16,702 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $533.24, for a total value of $8,906,174.48. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 28,838 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $15,377,575.12. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 418,680 shares of company stock valued at $211,992,147. 13.71% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have commented on META. Loop Capital upped their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $575.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $480.00 to $610.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $525.00 to $585.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Susquehanna increased their target price 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. Finally, Barclays increased their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $520.00 to $550.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research 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 assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $574.41.

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.