Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) Shares Acquired by Natixis Advisors LLC

Natixis Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 8.1% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,865,047 shares of the social networking company’s stock after buying an additional 140,424 shares during the period. Meta Platforms makes up approximately 2.0% of Natixis Advisors LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 5th biggest holding. Natixis Advisors LLC owned 0.07% of Meta Platforms worth $1,074,939,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Cannon Wealth Management Services LLC lifted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 2.2% during the first quarter. Cannon Wealth Management Services LLC now owns 781 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $466,000 after buying an additional 17 shares during the period. NorthRock Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 4.0% during the first quarter. NorthRock Partners LLC now owns 32,173 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $18,544,000 after buying an additional 1,245 shares during the period. SSA Swiss Advisors AG acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the first quarter worth $2,825,000. FSB Premier Wealth Management Inc. lifted its position in Meta Platforms by 4.6% during the first quarter. FSB Premier Wealth Management Inc. now owns 5,869 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $3,383,000 after purchasing an additional 259 shares during the period. Finally, Tower Bridge Advisors lifted its position in Meta Platforms by 0.4% during the first quarter. Tower Bridge Advisors now owns 19,215 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $11,075,000 after purchasing an additional 73 shares during the period. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on META shares. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $750.00 to $850.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Wedbush boosted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $750.00 to $920.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Hsbc Global Res upgraded shares of Meta Platforms from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Raymond James Financial boosted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $750.00 to $900.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, Loop Capital boosted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $695.00 to $888.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 16th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty-nine have assigned a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $820.32.

Insider Activity at Meta Platforms

In other news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 15,847 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $753.43, for a total value of $11,939,605.21. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 22,449 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $636.85, for a total transaction of $14,296,645.65. Following the sale, the chief technology officer owned 1,183 shares in the company, valued at approximately $753,393.55. This trade represents a 94.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 167,298 shares of company stock worth $116,742,790. Company insiders own 13.61% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

Shares of META stock opened at $776.37 on Tuesday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $704.66 and its 200-day moving average price is $647.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a quick ratio of 1.97 and a current ratio of 1.97. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a one year low of $450.80 and a one year high of $784.75. The firm has a market cap of $1.95 trillion, a P/E ratio of 28.11, a P/E/G ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 1.27.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 30th. The social networking company reported $7.14 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.75 by $1.39. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 39.99% and a return on equity of 39.33%. The firm had revenue of $47.52 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $44.55 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $5.16 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 21.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 26th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 16th were issued a $0.525 dividend. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 16th. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is currently 7.60%.

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.