Lifestyle Asset Management Inc. Has $1.42 Million Stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Lifestyle Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 472.6% in the second quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 2,823 shares of the social networking company’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,330 shares during the period. Meta Platforms accounts for approximately 0.8% of Lifestyle Asset Management Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 20th biggest position. Lifestyle Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $1,423,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in META. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Meta Platforms by 0.4% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 187,180,393 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $90,891,055,000 after acquiring an additional 831,047 shares during the period. Capital World Investors boosted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 0.6% during the first quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 38,299,316 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $18,597,382,000 after purchasing an additional 244,803 shares in the last quarter. Capital International Investors boosted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 3.2% during the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 34,738,470 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $12,296,383,000 after purchasing an additional 1,083,719 shares in the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors raised its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 14.5% in the 1st quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 34,597,001 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $16,799,612,000 after buying an additional 4,379,826 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter worth approximately $11,285,855,000. Institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on META shares. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on Meta Platforms from $565.00 to $600.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Barclays increased their target price on Meta Platforms from $520.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on Meta Platforms from $500.00 to $530.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $590.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, Oppenheimer raised their target price on Meta Platforms from $525.00 to $615.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, thirty-three have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $574.41.

Meta Platforms Trading Up 0.4 %

Shares of Meta Platforms stock opened at $529.28 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $1.34 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.40, a P/E/G ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 1.21. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $501.01 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $489.45. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1 year low of $276.03 and a 1 year high of $542.81. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a current ratio of 2.83 and a quick ratio of 2.68.

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

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 14th were issued a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.38%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 14th. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is 11.49%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Meta Platforms

In related news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 2,011 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $500.92, for a total value of $1,007,350.12. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 318,932 shares in the company, valued at $159,759,417.44. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 2,011 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $500.92, for a total value of $1,007,350.12. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 318,932 shares in the company, valued at $159,759,417.44. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $533.95, for a total value of $483,224.75. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 36,940 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,724,113. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 384,783 shares of company stock valued at $194,001,589 in the last ninety days. 13.71% of the stock is currently 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.