Meta Platforms, Inc. $META Stake Raised by Orion Porfolio Solutions LLC

Orion Porfolio Solutions LLC raised its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 9.7% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 125,090 shares of the social networking company’s stock after acquiring an additional 11,051 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms makes up 0.8% of Orion Porfolio Solutions LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 15th largest holding. Orion Porfolio Solutions LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $92,328,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Bare Financial Services Inc acquired a new position in Meta Platforms in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Evergreen Private Wealth LLC boosted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 237.5% during the 2nd quarter. Evergreen Private Wealth LLC now owns 54 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $40,000 after buying an additional 38 shares during the period. Briaud Financial Planning Inc purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the 2nd quarter valued at $42,000. Knuff & Co LLC acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the second quarter worth $44,000. Finally, WFA Asset Management Corp raised its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 42.6% during the second quarter. WFA Asset Management Corp now owns 67 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $49,000 after acquiring an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Stock Down 1.3%

META stock opened at $644.23 on Monday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $665.92 and its 200 day simple moving average is $707.68. The company has a quick ratio of 1.98, a current ratio of 1.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a twelve month low of $479.80 and a twelve month high of $796.25. The company has a market cap of $1.62 trillion, a PE ratio of 28.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.35 and a beta of 1.28.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 29th. The social networking company reported $7.25 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.74 by $0.51. The company had revenue of $51.24 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $49.34 billion. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 30.89% and a return on equity of 39.35%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 26.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $6.03 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 23rd. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 15th will be paid a $0.525 dividend. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 15th. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is currently 9.28%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have commented on META. Benchmark downgraded Meta Platforms from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Erste Group Bank lowered Meta Platforms from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, November 10th. Bank of America lowered their price target on Meta Platforms from $900.00 to $810.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $950.00 to $910.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Finally, DA Davidson set a $825.00 target price on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-nine have given a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $819.46.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 11,690 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $593.31, for a total transaction of $6,935,793.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief technology officer owned 2,415 shares in the company, valued at $1,432,843.65. This trade represents a 82.88% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Susan J. Li sold 6,875 shares of the stock in a transaction on Saturday, November 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $609.46, for a total value of $4,190,037.50. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 88,370 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $53,857,980.20. This represents a 7.22% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 40,977 shares of company stock worth $25,834,356 in the last 90 days. 13.61% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.