Financial Gravity Asset Management Inc. Takes $3.29 Million Position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Financial Gravity Asset Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 5,706 shares of the social networking company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,289,000.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in META. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 191,198,005 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $111,948,344,000 after purchasing an additional 1,502,553 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 2.1% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 49,181,127 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $28,719,970,000 after purchasing an additional 1,020,519 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 2.5% during the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 42,317,434 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $24,777,282,000 after purchasing an additional 1,049,121 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors lifted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 2.9% during the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 40,317,105 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $23,606,338,000 after purchasing an additional 1,141,355 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter valued at $19,949,512,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 519 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $721.57, for a total transaction of $374,494.83. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 27,107 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $19,559,597.99. This trade represents a 1.88% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 2,361 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $716.48, for a total value of $1,691,609.28. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 152,263 shares of company stock valued at $104,638,750. 13.61% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have issued reports on META. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Meta Platforms from $664.00 to $783.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. Piper Sandler reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $808.00 price objective (up previously from $650.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Friday, June 27th. Loop Capital increased their price objective on Meta Platforms from $695.00 to $888.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 16th. Benchmark lowered their price objective on Meta Platforms from $820.00 to $640.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, Susquehanna lowered their price objective on Meta Platforms from $800.00 to $700.00 and set a “positive” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty-seven have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $729.38.

Meta Platforms Stock Up 0.5%

META stock opened at $720.92 on Tuesday. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $677.20 and a 200-day moving average price of $635.41. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12 month low of $442.65 and a 12 month high of $747.90. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.81 trillion, a P/E ratio of 28.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.76 and a beta of 1.28. The company has a current ratio of 2.66, a quick ratio of 2.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The social networking company reported $6.43 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.33 by $1.10. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 38.69% and a net margin of 39.11%. The firm had revenue of $42.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $41.45 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $4.71 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared 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. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.29%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 16th. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is 8.19%.

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.