JLB & Associates Inc. Purchases New Position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

JLB & Associates Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 2,024 shares of the social networking company's stock, valued at approximately $1,021,000.

A number of other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. S.A. Mason LLC increased its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.5% during the first quarter. S.A. Mason LLC now owns 1,328 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $645,000 after acquiring an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. Horizon Bancorp Inc. IN boosted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 2.0% in the 1st 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 during the last quarter. Northern Capital Management Inc. grew its position in Meta Platforms by 3.4% during the first quarter. Northern Capital Management Inc. now owns 647 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $314,000 after buying an additional 21 shares during the period. Buckingham Capital Management Inc. increased its holdings in 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 buying an additional 21 shares during the last quarter. Finally, LongView Wealth Management boosted its stake in Meta Platforms by 1.3% in 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 during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.91% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

META has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Raymond James raised their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $600.00 and gave the stock a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Monday, July 1st. TD Cowen upped their price target on Meta Platforms from $530.00 to $600.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 10th. Canaccord Genuity Group decreased their price objective on Meta Platforms from $610.00 to $575.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 25th. TD Securities boosted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $530.00 to $600.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 10th. Finally, BNP Paribas initiated coverage on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday, May 2nd. They issued an "underperform" rating and a $360.00 price objective for the company. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, thirty-three have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $574.41.

Meta Platforms Trading Down 1.8 %

META traded down $9.91 on Friday, hitting $527.42. 14,715,158 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 16,365,660. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $500.48 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $487.81. 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 $274.38 and a 12 month high of $542.81. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.34 trillion, a PE ratio of 30.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 1.21.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly 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. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 34.16% and a net margin of 34.34%. The business had revenue of $39.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $38.26 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $3.23 EPS. Meta Platforms's revenue for the quarter was up 22.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 20.5 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 14th were given a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 14th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.38%. Meta Platforms's dividend payout ratio is currently 11.49%.

Insider Transactions at Meta Platforms

In other news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 150 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $500.49, for a total value of $75,073.50. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 124,387 shares in the company, valued at approximately $62,254,449.63. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 150 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $500.49, for a total value of $75,073.50. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 124,387 shares in the company, valued at approximately $62,254,449.63. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Sheryl Sandberg sold 105,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $476.71, for a total value of $50,054,550.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 630,293 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $300,466,976.03. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 349,174 shares of company stock worth $175,146,777. 13.71% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.