Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) Shares Purchased by Manhattan West Asset Management LLC

Manhattan West Asset Management LLC raised its stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 7.5% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,332 shares of the social networking company’s stock after buying an additional 162 shares during the quarter. Manhattan West Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $1,132,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Quest Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter valued at $32,000. Clear Investment Research LLC grew its holdings in Meta Platforms by 411.1% in the 4th quarter. Clear Investment Research LLC now owns 92 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 74 shares in the last quarter. Delos Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Meta Platforms by 527.3% in the 1st 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 in the last quarter. Cranbrook Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in Meta Platforms by 80.4% in the 4th quarter. Cranbrook Wealth Management LLC now owns 101 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $36,000 after buying an additional 45 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Gilfoyle & Co LLC purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter valued at $39,000. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Meta Platforms

In related news, CFO Susan J. Li sold 8,951 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $471.85, for a total value of $4,223,529.35. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 74,580 shares in the company, valued at $35,190,573. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, CFO Susan J. Li sold 8,951 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $471.85, for a total transaction of $4,223,529.35. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 74,580 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $35,190,573. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Sheryl Sandberg sold 105,000 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $476.71, for a total value of $50,054,550.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 630,293 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $300,466,976.03. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 311,348 shares of company stock worth $154,678,120 over the last three months. 13.71% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on META. BMO Capital Markets reiterated a “market perform” rating and set a $450.00 price target on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Wednesday, June 12th. Rosenblatt Securities increased their target price on Meta Platforms from $520.00 to $562.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 25th. Sanford C. Bernstein increased their target price on Meta Platforms from $565.00 to $575.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, July 22nd. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their target price on Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $570.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 25th. Finally, Oppenheimer increased their target price on Meta Platforms from $500.00 to $525.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, July 19th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, thirty-five have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $534.87.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

Shares of META stock traded up $12.29 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $465.70. The company had a trading volume of 14,222,388 shares, compared to its average volume of 13,931,730. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $493.20 and its 200 day simple moving average is $476.10. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 52-week low of $274.38 and a 52-week high of $542.81. The stock has a market cap of $1.18 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.75, a PEG ratio of 1.20 and a beta of 1.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a current ratio of 2.68 and a quick ratio of 2.68.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The social networking company reported $4.71 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.32 by $0.39. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 32.03% and a net margin of 32.06%. The company had revenue of $36.46 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $36.28 billion. Research analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 20.23 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 26th. Investors of record on Friday, June 14th were paid a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 14th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.43%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.