Caprock Group LLC Has $87.15 Million Position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Caprock Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 26.1% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 172,840 shares of the social networking company’s stock after buying an additional 35,775 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms comprises 3.5% of Caprock Group LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 6th largest position. Caprock Group LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $87,150,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in META. W Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 11.5% during the second quarter. W Advisors LLC now owns 1,314 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $663,000 after purchasing an additional 135 shares during the last quarter. Lynch & Associates IN raised its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 2.7% in the second quarter. Lynch & Associates IN now owns 1,653 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $833,000 after purchasing an additional 44 shares during the last quarter. Certuity LLC lifted its stake in Meta Platforms by 12.8% during the 2nd quarter. Certuity LLC now owns 11,729 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $5,908,000 after acquiring an additional 1,329 shares during the period. Emerald Mutual Fund Advisers Trust lifted its position in Meta Platforms by 6.3% during the second quarter. Emerald Mutual Fund Advisers Trust now owns 1,662 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $838,000 after purchasing an additional 99 shares during the period. Finally, Gallacher Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 15.4% during the 2nd quarter. Gallacher Capital Management LLC now owns 2,112 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $1,065,000 after buying an additional 282 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Trading Up 1.4 %

Shares of META stock opened at $511.83 on Thursday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $505.12 and a 200 day moving average price of $494.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a quick ratio of 2.83 and a current ratio of 2.83. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.29 trillion, a P/E ratio of 29.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.23 and a beta of 1.21. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $279.40 and a fifty-two week high of $544.23.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The social networking company reported $5.16 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.70 by $0.46. The firm had revenue of $39.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $38.26 billion. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 34.16% and a net margin of 34.34%. Meta Platforms’s revenue for the quarter was up 22.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $3.23 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 21.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 26th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 16th will be given a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.39%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 16th. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is currently 11.49%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Meta Platforms

In other Meta Platforms news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $496.99, for a total value of $449,775.95. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 38,750 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,258,362.50. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $496.99, for a total transaction of $449,775.95. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 38,750 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $19,258,362.50. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 413 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $536.92, for a total value of $221,747.96. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 14,424 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,744,534.08. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 373,371 shares of company stock worth $193,535,153. 13.71% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $630.00 to $635.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $570.00 price objective on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. Evercore ISI upped their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $600.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Needham & Company LLC reissued an “underperform” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Wednesday, September 4th. Finally, Benchmark reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday, July 25th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, thirty-four have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $577.26.

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.