D.B. Root & Company LLC Acquires 1,184 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

D.B. Root & Company LLC increased its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 28.1% during the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 5,393 shares of the social networking company’s stock after buying an additional 1,184 shares during the period. Meta Platforms makes up 0.9% of D.B. Root & Company LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 22nd biggest holding. D.B. Root & Company LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $2,719,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Delos Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position 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 valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 58 shares during the last quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. lifted its position in Meta Platforms by 95.6% during the first quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. now owns 88 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $41,000 after acquiring an additional 43 shares during the last quarter. Quest Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Kathleen S. Wright Associates Inc. purchased a new position in Meta Platforms in the first quarter worth $44,000. Finally, Clear Investment Research LLC increased its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 411.1% during the fourth quarter. Clear Investment Research LLC now owns 92 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 74 shares in the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, COO Javier Olivan sold 4,911 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $471.85, for a total transaction of $2,317,255.35. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 11,388 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,373,427.80. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Meta Platforms news, insider Nicholas Clegg sold 1,135 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $471.85, for a total transaction of $535,549.75. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 8,753 shares in the company, valued at $4,130,103.05. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 4,911 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $471.85, for a total value of $2,317,255.35. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 11,388 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,373,427.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 335,860 shares of company stock valued at $167,199,478 in the last quarter. Insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $525.00 to $585.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Piper Sandler lifted their price target on Meta Platforms from $545.00 to $575.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Citigroup increased their price objective on Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $580.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Truist Financial raised their price objective on Meta Platforms from $535.00 to $570.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, TD Securities upped their target price on Meta Platforms from $530.00 to $600.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 10th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating, thirty-three have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $572.51.

Meta Platforms Trading Down 0.4 %

Shares of NASDAQ META traded down $1.82 during trading on Monday, hitting $515.95. 9,758,071 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 16,443,930. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12-month low of $274.38 and a 12-month high of $542.81. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.31 trillion, a PE ratio of 29.64, a P/E/G ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 1.21. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $497.26 and a 200-day moving average price of $484.74. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a quick ratio of 2.68 and a current ratio of 2.83.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The social networking company reported $5.16 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.70 by $0.46. The business had revenue of $39.07 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $38.26 billion. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 34.34% and a return on equity of 34.16%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 22.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $3.23 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 20.5 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 14th were given a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend 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 is currently 11.49%.

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.