Townsend Asset Management Corp NC ADV Raises Stock Holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Townsend Asset Management Corp NC ADV increased its holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 9.4% during the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,029 shares of the social networking company’s stock after acquiring an additional 88 shares during the quarter. Townsend Asset Management Corp NC ADV’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $519,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Quest Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter worth $32,000. Clear Investment Research LLC lifted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 411.1% in the 4th quarter. Clear Investment Research LLC now owns 92 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 74 shares during the period. Delos Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 527.3% during the first quarter. Delos Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 69 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 58 shares during the period. POM Investment Strategies LLC acquired a new stake in Meta Platforms in the second quarter valued at about $38,000. Finally, Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 122.2% in the 2nd quarter. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. now owns 80 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $40,000 after purchasing an additional 44 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Sheryl Sandberg sold 105,000 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 630,293 shares in the company, valued at approximately $300,466,976.03. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the insider now owns 42,370 shares in the company, valued at $20,197,355.30. 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 business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $476.71, for a total transaction of $50,054,550.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 630,293 shares in the company, valued at $300,466,976.03. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 418,680 shares of company stock worth $211,992,147 over the last ninety days. 13.71% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently commented on META shares. JMP Securities reissued a “market outperform” rating and issued a $525.00 price target on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. Bank of America upped their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $563.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $565.00 to $600.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $630.00 to $635.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $570.00 price target on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. Two investment 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 issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $574.41.

Meta Platforms Trading Down 1.7 %

Shares of META stock traded down $8.77 on Monday, reaching $519.23. 5,075,826 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 16,153,604. 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 stock has a market cap of $1.32 trillion, a P/E ratio of 29.63, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 1.21. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $502.96 and a two-hundred day moving average of $491.30. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1-year low of $279.40 and a 1-year high of $544.23.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The social networking company reported $5.16 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.70 by $0.46. The company had revenue of $39.07 billion during 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 firm’s revenue was up 22.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $3.23 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 20.5 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The firm 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. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 14th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.39%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 11.49%.

Meta Platforms Company 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.