Daiwa Securities Group Inc. Boosts Stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Daiwa Securities Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 18.8% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 684,070 shares of the social networking company’s stock after buying an additional 108,132 shares during the period. Meta Platforms makes up 1.8% of Daiwa Securities Group Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 14th biggest position. Daiwa Securities Group Inc.’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $344,921,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of META. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter worth about $11,285,855,000. Capital Research Global Investors raised its stake in Meta Platforms by 17.2% during the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 30,217,175 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $10,695,722,000 after purchasing an additional 4,440,229 shares during the period. Concentrum Wealth Management raised its stake in Meta Platforms by 111.0% during the fourth quarter. Concentrum Wealth Management now owns 7,391,877 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $2,616,000 after purchasing an additional 3,888,308 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in Meta Platforms by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 186,349,346 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $65,960,215,000 after purchasing an additional 3,104,550 shares during the period. Finally, Jennison Associates LLC raised its stake in Meta Platforms by 24.7% during the first quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 13,867,398 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $6,733,731,000 after purchasing an additional 2,748,620 shares during the period. 79.91% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have commented on META shares. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $520.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market outperform” rating and set a $525.00 target price on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Tuesday, July 30th. Raymond James boosted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $600.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, July 1st. Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $565.00 to $575.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, July 22nd. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities boosted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $562.00 to $643.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Meta Platforms presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $577.26.

Meta Platforms Stock Down 0.2 %

Shares of NASDAQ:META opened at $524.62 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $1.33 trillion, a PE ratio of 30.13, a P/E/G ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 1.21. The company has a current ratio of 2.83, a quick ratio of 2.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a twelve month low of $279.40 and a twelve month high of $544.23. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $505.13 and a 200-day simple moving average of $495.37.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 31st. The social networking company reported $5.16 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.70 by $0.46. The business had revenue of $39.07 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $38.26 billion. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 34.34% and a return on equity of 34.16%. The company’s revenue was up 22.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $3.23 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 21.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 26th. Investors of record on Monday, September 16th will be given a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 16th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.38%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 11.49%.

Insider Activity at Meta Platforms

In related news, CFO Susan J. Li sold 8,950 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $526.76, for a total value of $4,714,502.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 74,579 shares in the company, valued at approximately $39,285,234.04. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, CFO Susan J. Li sold 8,950 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $526.76, for a total value of $4,714,502.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 74,579 shares in the company, valued at approximately $39,285,234.04. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 901 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $451.15, for a total transaction of $406,486.15. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 33,324 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $15,034,122.60. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 357,574 shares of company stock worth $185,587,773 in the last 90 days. 13.71% of the stock is owned by 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.