Berger Financial Group Inc Acquires 335 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Berger Financial Group Inc increased its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 7.2% during the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 5,000 shares of the social networking company’s stock after acquiring an additional 335 shares during the period. Berger Financial Group Inc’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $2,882,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Pandora Wealth Inc. bought a new stake in Meta Platforms in the first quarter valued at $10,366,000. Fiduciary Family Office LLC bought a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the 1st quarter worth about $4,046,000. Taylor Financial Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 3.9% during the 1st quarter. Taylor Financial Group Inc. now owns 538 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $310,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. Johnson Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the 1st quarter worth about $653,000. Finally, Manhattan West Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 69.7% during the 1st quarter. Manhattan West Asset Management LLC now owns 1,809 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $1,043,000 after purchasing an additional 743 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Meta Platforms

In related news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 15,847 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Christopher K. Cox sold 60,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $775.95, for a total value of $46,557,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 237,205 shares in the company, valued at approximately $184,059,219.75. This trade represents a 20.19% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 292,211 shares of company stock worth $215,232,155 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 13.61% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have weighed in on META. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $750.00 to $850.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Bank of America increased their price target on Meta Platforms from $775.00 to $900.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $783.00 to $811.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Citigroup reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, DA Davidson raised their target price on Meta Platforms from $650.00 to $825.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty-nine have issued a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Meta Platforms currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $822.41.

Meta Platforms Stock Down 1.3%

NASDAQ:META opened at $780.08 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.96 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.64 and a beta of 1.27. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a twelve month low of $479.80 and a twelve month high of $795.46. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $720.73 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $653.97. The company has a quick ratio of 1.97, a current ratio of 1.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The social networking company reported $7.14 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.75 by $1.39. The business had revenue of $47.52 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $44.55 billion. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 39.99% and a return on equity of 39.33%. The firm’s revenue was up 21.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $5.16 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

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

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.