Avitas Wealth Management LLC Has $10.52 Million Stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Avitas Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 2.8% during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 20,861 shares of the social networking company's stock after buying an additional 561 shares during the period. Meta Platforms makes up approximately 1.5% of Avitas Wealth Management LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 12th largest position. Avitas Wealth Management LLC's holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $10,519,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Baird Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 24.2% in the 4th quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 835,972 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $295,901,000 after purchasing an additional 163,067 shares in the last quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System boosted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.5% in the 4th quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 3,576,285 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $1,265,862,000 after purchasing an additional 51,900 shares in the last quarter. Donoghue Forlines LLC boosted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 94.4% in the 4th quarter. Donoghue Forlines LLC now owns 8,349 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $2,955,000 after purchasing an additional 4,054 shares in the last quarter. Voyager Global Management LP boosted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 37.3% in the 4th quarter. Voyager Global Management LP now owns 515,000 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $182,289,000 after purchasing an additional 140,000 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management UK Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 400.0% in the 4th quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management UK Ltd. now owns 2,500 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $885,000 after purchasing an additional 2,000 shares in the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Meta Platforms Stock Down 0.7 %

NASDAQ META traded down $3.93 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $528.00. The company's stock had a trading volume of 11,304,691 shares, compared to its average volume of 16,221,447. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $502.48 and its 200 day simple moving average is $490.42. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a twelve month low of $276.03 and a twelve month high of $544.23. The company has a current ratio of 2.83, a quick ratio of 2.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.34 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.33, a PEG 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, beating the consensus estimate of $4.70 by $0.46. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 34.34% and a return on equity of 34.16%. The business had revenue of $39.07 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $38.26 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $3.23 EPS. Meta Platforms's revenue was up 22.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 20.5 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed 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. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.38%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 14th. Meta Platforms's dividend payout ratio is 11.49%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on META shares. Truist Financial raised their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $535.00 to $570.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Bank of America raised their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $563.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Needham & Company LLC reiterated an "underperform" rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Tigress Financial raised their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $575.00 to $645.00 and gave the company a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Friday, August 16th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reiterated a "market perform" rating and issued a $450.00 price objective on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Wednesday, June 12th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, thirty-three have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $574.41.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Meta Platforms news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $476.69, for a total transaction of $431,404.45. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 42,370 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $20,197,355.30. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $476.69, for a total value of $431,404.45. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 42,370 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $20,197,355.30. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 16,702 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $533.24, for a total transaction of $8,906,174.48. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 28,838 shares in the company, valued at $15,377,575.12. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 418,680 shares of company stock valued at $211,992,147 in the last three months. 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.

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