SeaCrest Wealth Management LLC Purchases 1,847 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

SeaCrest Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 9.3% during the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 21,687 shares of the social networking company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,847 shares during the period. Meta Platforms comprises 1.2% of SeaCrest Wealth Management LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 13th largest holding. SeaCrest Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $10,935,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of META. Baird Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 24.2% in the fourth 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 during the period. California State Teachers Retirement System lifted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 1.5% in the fourth 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 acquiring an additional 51,900 shares during the period. Donoghue Forlines LLC raised its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 94.4% during the 4th quarter. Donoghue Forlines LLC now owns 8,349 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $2,955,000 after buying an additional 4,054 shares during the last quarter. Voyager Global Management LP increased its position in Meta Platforms by 37.3% during the 4th quarter. Voyager Global Management LP now owns 515,000 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $182,289,000 after purchasing an additional 140,000 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management UK Ltd. grew its holdings in 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 buying an additional 2,000 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $533.95, for a total value of $483,224.75. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 36,940 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,724,113. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $533.95, for a total transaction of $483,224.75. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 36,940 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $19,724,113. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Sheryl Sandberg sold 105,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $476.71, for a total value of $50,054,550.00. Following the sale, the director now directly 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 384,783 shares of company stock valued at $194,001,589. 13.71% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:META traded up $5.48 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $532.21. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 6,007,586 shares, compared to its average volume of 16,204,949. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $276.03 and a fifty-two week high of $542.81. The company has a market capitalization of $1.35 trillion, a P/E ratio of 30.72, a P/E/G ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 1.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a current ratio of 2.83 and a quick ratio of 2.68. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $501.40 and its 200-day simple moving average is $489.81.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 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%. Meta Platforms’s revenue for the quarter was up 22.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $3.23 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 20.5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the company. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $570.00 target price on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target on Meta Platforms from $565.00 to $600.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $590.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Roth Mkm boosted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $510.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, Loop Capital upped their price objective on Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $575.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 6th. 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 issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Meta Platforms has a consensus 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.