Horizon Investment Services LLC Raises Stock Holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Horizon Investment Services LLC raised its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 166.7% in the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 8,011 shares of the social networking company’s stock after purchasing an additional 5,007 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms accounts for 1.9% of Horizon Investment Services LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 14th biggest holding. Horizon Investment Services LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $3,890,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in META. Purus Wealth Management LLC raised its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 6.7% in the 4th quarter. Purus Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,198 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $1,132,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. Daymark Wealth Partners LLC lifted its stake in Meta Platforms by 3.5% during the 4th quarter. Daymark Wealth Partners LLC now owns 10,309 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $3,649,000 after acquiring an additional 347 shares during the period. Howard Financial Services LTD. boosted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 11.2% in the 4th quarter. Howard Financial Services LTD. now owns 960 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $340,000 after acquiring an additional 97 shares during the last quarter. Dfpg Investments LLC raised its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 2.9% during the fourth quarter. Dfpg Investments LLC now owns 47,576 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $16,388,000 after purchasing an additional 1,342 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Silvia Mccoll Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter valued at $254,000. 79.91% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $555.00 to $500.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 25th. Barclays decreased their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $520.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their target price on Meta Platforms from $540.00 to $500.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. Rosenblatt Securities upped their price target on Meta Platforms from $520.00 to $562.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 25th. Finally, UBS Group lowered their price target on Meta Platforms from $610.00 to $575.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, thirty-seven have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $515.64.

Insider Transactions at Meta Platforms

In related news, Director Sheryl Sandberg sold 105,000 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $476.71, for a total transaction 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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Meta Platforms news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $533.95, for a total transaction of $483,224.75. Following the sale, the insider now owns 36,940 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,724,113. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Sheryl Sandberg sold 105,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $476.71, for a total transaction of $50,054,550.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 630,293 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $300,466,976.03. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 294,278 shares of company stock valued at $146,060,559. Corporate insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

Shares of META traded up $3.23 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $502.10. 5,260,688 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 16,124,856. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a twelve month low of $274.38 and a twelve month high of $542.81. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $492.56 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $467.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a current ratio of 2.68 and a quick ratio of 2.68. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.27 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.70, a P/E/G ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 1.21.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The social networking company reported $4.71 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.32 by $0.39. The company had revenue of $36.46 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $36.28 billion. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 32.06% and a return on equity of 32.03%. Analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 20.21 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 14th were given a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.40%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 14th. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 11.49%.

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.