Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) Position Lifted by American Century Companies Inc.

American Century Companies Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 6.5% during the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 6,124,058 shares of the social networking company’s stock after purchasing an additional 375,680 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms accounts for approximately 1.9% of American Century Companies Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 6th largest holding. American Century Companies Inc.’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $3,087,873,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. S.A. Mason LLC boosted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.5% during the 1st quarter. S.A. Mason LLC now owns 1,328 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $645,000 after buying an additional 20 shares during the period. Horizon Bancorp Inc. IN boosted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 2.0% during the 1st quarter. Horizon Bancorp Inc. IN now owns 1,057 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $513,000 after buying an additional 21 shares during the period. Northern Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 3.4% during the 1st quarter. Northern Capital Management Inc. now owns 647 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $314,000 after buying an additional 21 shares during the period. Buckingham Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 5.1% during the 2nd quarter. Buckingham Capital Management Inc. now owns 433 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $218,000 after buying an additional 21 shares during the period. Finally, LongView Wealth Management boosted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.3% during the 1st quarter. LongView Wealth Management now owns 1,762 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $856,000 after buying an additional 22 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

META has been the subject of a number of research reports. Susquehanna lifted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $600.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Bank of America lifted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $563.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Wolfe Research started coverage on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Tuesday, July 16th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $620.00 price objective for the company. Benchmark reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. Finally, 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. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, thirty-four have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $577.26.

Insider Activity at Meta Platforms

In related news, CFO Susan J. Li sold 8,950 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $526.76, for a total transaction of $4,714,502.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 74,579 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $39,285,234.04. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 38,750 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $19,258,362.50. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO Susan J. Li sold 8,950 shares of Meta Platforms 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 directly owns 74,579 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $39,285,234.04. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 357,574 shares of company stock valued at $185,587,773 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

NASDAQ:META opened at $524.62 on Friday. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12-month low of $279.40 and a 12-month high of $544.23. The company has a quick ratio of 2.83, a current ratio of 2.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.33 trillion, a PE ratio of 30.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 1.21. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $505.13 and a 200 day moving average price of $495.43.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The social networking company reported $5.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.70 by $0.46. The firm had revenue of $39.07 billion during 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%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 22.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $3.23 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 21.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

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 issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 16th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.38%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is 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.